When The Bough Breaks
by miekhead
Summary: SEQUEL TO FOOL FOR MONEY ...   When Maura comes home with a surprise for the recuperating detective, it isn't quite what Jane was hoping for. Meanwhile, the BPD team have to solve a double homicide at Maura's beloved old haunt: The Boston Public Library
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Welcome to the next instalment of the _Bay State BFFs_ series. This is a short introduction chapter, but the episode will get longer as the case becomes unravelled. Comments and faves extremely welcome... of course. Enjoy!

oxoxoxoxo

The heat of mid-summer teetered off a little and work was becoming somewhat easier for the people of Boston. Sometimes, Maura Isles was thankful that she lived in a state with a climate so unpredictable, the crisp sea breeze a welcome change to the previous week's humidity. Sweat patches weren't aesthetically pleasing at all, and she cursed her overactive sudoriferous glands for nearly causing her embarrassment. Luckily though, today the breeze wrapped around her like a nice cool shower. She took a brief look at her house, sighing dramatically before taking steps forward and approaching the front door.

Jane Rizzoli's head rushed up when she heard the door go, both she and Joe Friday looking at the lobby attentively. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, the detective grinned when she heard Maura's feet clip-clopping along the laminate floor. Her grin soured suddenly when Maura smiled back. "What the hell is that?" She pointed to the hefty weight in Maura's hand.

"Her name," Maura stressed, "is Mia."

Jane rubbed her eyes for the second time and thought she was imagining things. When she opened her eyes again… Nope, still there. Maura looked down at the baby in her carrier, little blue eyes peering up at the brunette who jumped out of her seat.

"Maura… that's a baby."

"Yes," the medical examiner frowned, "it is. Are you phobic?"

Jane dashed to the other end of the kitchen, "Sure… they make me break out in hives," she joked. "What the fuck is a baby doing in the house?"

Maura was completely confused at the hostile attitude. She set the car seat down, along with the packed up baby bag and bent down to unclip Mia's seatbelt. "I don't appreciate your language around an infant, but if you wanted to know… It's a concept known as baby-sitting, Jane. Your mother was supposed to be looking after little Mia here for the weekend but she had to go to Bingo." She hefted the 6-month old up and settled her against her hip. The girl's head lay against the expanse of Maura's chest, peering at Jane with unsure eyes.

Jane's mouth dropped. "My mothe…. Oh she is a dead woman," the detective fumed and pulled out her phone.  
>Maura was about to say something but Jane darted a furious glance towards her, pointing a strong finger at her. The blonde knew what that meant. It meant 'You say one more thing and I'm deleting your shopping browsing history.' She kept quiet and hushed the small child who was starting to get a little upset at the tension in the house.<p>

"Ma… what the hell?"

"Oh Janie!" Angela squealed, oblivious to the tone in her daughter's voice. "How are you feeling?"

"How am I feeling? I just got greeted to Maura here bringing home a baby. A baby, Mom!"

Angela sighed and looked in the mirror of her bedroom as she put an earring in. "I would have kept her with me, honey but I'm going out"

"Out? You never go out!" Jane said curtly. "And since when do you play Bingo?"

Angela thought on her feet, "Since I enjoyed the company," she sighed. "You wouldn't understand. It's hard living on your own." Jane looked at Maura and rolled her eyes, knowing the first thing Angela would do was play the guilt game. "Listen… I wouldn't have asked you both if I knew you'd be so angry."

"Ask us both…" Jane repeated foggily and looked at Maura who hid a shy smile. "You…"

"I thought it'd be okay," Maura laughed. "We had nothing planned for tonight, I'm fed up with you lying around the house moaning about not having a job to go to… this could be good for you."

"You see?" Angela listened closely to the interactions. "It's just one evening. She's the daughter of Jamie, you know? The single mother in my book club. She's at a business conference in New York for the weekend."

"Book club?" This was getting ridiculous. Jane suddenly remembered Frankie's concern for their mother's short-lived career as a 'Miracle Juice' sales woman and knew where he was coming from. "What book club?"

"Some of the girls from work… we have this thing," Angela said, frustration seeping through her voice. "Sweetie? I have to go, Maura has Jamie's number. Have fun, you two!" And the line went dead.

Jane stared at Maura and groaned, flopping back onto the couch. Feeling more brave, Maura joined her and sat Mia on her lap. The baby gurgled and snuggled up against the medical examiner's chest. "I can't believe you're doing this…"

"Jane, she was really stuck!"

"Bingo? Bingo doesn't mean stuck…" The detective whined. She turned her head to the baby who looked at her with curious, slightly fearing eyes. "Ohhh god, she's cute."

"Right?" Maura chuckled and handed her housemate a small rattle to give to the baby. Jane did so, somewhat hesitantly, then looked back to her friend.

"Sooo?"

"So what?" Maura was confused.

"How was work?" Jane asked.

"Fine… just paperwork. Quite boring if I'm honest." She smiled when she felt the detective curl around her. "And you? How are you feeling?"

"TV, same old same old… Boring," she smirked, plopping her head on the doctor's shoulder. Jane had been out of hospital for a week now, with two weeks off work to recuperate. After the close call with death involving a cyanide poisoning, Jane moved into Maura's house. The two women hadn't talked about the kisses in the hospital. Though their touches lasted longer, and they cuddled, something they'd never done before, but neither of them brought up their developing relationship.

"No nausea?" Maura asked. Jane shook her head proudly. "What did you eat?"

"Coco-puffs...crackers," Jane chuckled, letting the baby on Maura's lap play with her fingers. "This is so random. There is a baby in our house." She thought for a second. "Hey, what if we get a case?"

Maura stilled and dared to bring her eyes to the often explosive brunette. "You mean, if I get a case."

Jane groaned and covered her eyes. "Oh god… Maura!" She peeked through her fingers when Mia began to giggle. "I haven't babysat since I was 15."

"But you have, so it's fine. Jamie knows of our little arrangement." Maura smiled. "she's fine about it."

"Our arrangement? What arrangement?" Jane frowned, squawking when the baby was placed in her lap, the doctor avoiding the two pronged question. Mia gnawed on her little fist, slouching against the detective's chest. "Maura!"

"Are you denying me dinner?" Maura turned in disbelief. "Ten minutes."

Jane huffed and looked towards ESPN, holding the infant up in her arms. "Fine…" She looked down at the baby whose head lolled against her underarm. Sighing, she pointed at the 40 inch widescreen TV. "You see those? Those are the Yankees… the bad guys." She let a smile pull on her lips when Maura giggled from the kitchen. "And that's Gardner, you do not wanna mess with him." She looked down at the wide, cerulean eyes gazing back at her.

"Jane… really?" Maura put her soy bean salad in a dish and came back over to the couch.

"Like she knows what I'm saying," Jane scoffed and looked at the strange looking meal in her friend's lap. "I don't even wanna know what that is."

"Edamame…" Maura replied. She was proud to see that Jane had the little girl settled in her arms despite not paying much attention to the dozing baby. Instead, she peered curiously at the weird green beans.

"Isn't that a kind of cheese?" Jane's nose wrinkled.

"Edamame," Maura repeated with a groan. "Soybeans." She explained, then was interrupted by a loud beeping that shocked Mia. The infant's lip bent in a pout and she began to whimper. She watched Jane hush the child with a small murmur and picked up her cell. "Isles?"

Frost's voice sounded grim. "You're up. Double homicide, BPL, Boylston Branch."

Maura sat up. "The library?"

"Yep. See you in a bit."

Maura nearly dropped the phone. This was a place she had practically lived in, especially in her senior year. She looked at Jane whose hand was immediately resting on her back. "What's up?"

"Double… at BPL."

Jane frowned. She was about to grouch about not being able to go and being left with the strange baby until she saw Maura's face. She knew the blonde was passionate about the place, so she sighed, hoisting Mia up a little more who was drooling steadily on her tank top. Then she did something... different. Unable to stop herself, she pulled Maura by the chin into a hesitant kiss. Maura's eyes widened, then saw Jane's closed ones and gave into the searching lips, asking for entrance. Jane didn't have enough time to feel Maura's tongue against hers before she noticed Maura tearing away with a gasp. "Jane..."

"When you get back, we're gonna talk about this, okay?" Jane surprised the woman with a further peck on the nose. Maura nodded and gathered her things.

"You'll be okay?"

Jane exhaled and looked down at the child, fast asleep in the crook of her arm. "I think I've got it covered. You just owe me… big time."

"I'll think of something," Maura gave a charming smile. "See you later."

Jane nodded. "Hey, Maur?"

"Hmm?" Maura held the door open and turned to see the innocent picture of Jane and the stranger's baby.

"Be safe." Jane said gently.

The doctor gave a deep nod before turning back and leaving the house. When she got out of the front door, she looked at the nighttime breeze with a heavy heart. She'd do anything to play house with Jane for just one night. But work was work, and before she knew it, she was sat in her Mercedes, turning the engine off and walking up the steps to the place she once called a safe haven.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Rizzoli and Isles. But they live in my brain for a short while everyday.

Author's Note: Hey guys. Glad I'm still keeping people entertained. Here is your warning, this is a pretty dark and gruesome case, and Maura is taking it hard. This is a longer chapter and the next instalments (five this time, not four) will be just as long, maybe a tad longer. Enjoy!

xoxoxox

Maura showed her ID, and put on the pair of gloves waiting for her at security. She spotted Frost and Korsak. "What have we got?"

"Female, 21. Name; Femke Timmermans. International student from Aruba." Korsak said. "Then we have Henry Luton. 24, also a student. Both of them at BCU."

Maura was lead to the first victim. Oh my… She pulled at her medical gloves anxiously and looked at the pair of scissors hanging out of the back of the young woman's neck. She heard a gurgle behind her and looked to see Frost flee to puke into a biohazard disposal bag. She sighed, knowing the young man had been trying hard at the sight of blood and gore, but she decided to let this one go. Blood along the woman's neck had dried, but had also trickled down the her back. The female in question was slumped in her chair, one hand on the table, and the other in her lap. "Weapon appears to have pierced the rectus capitis posterior muscle of the neck. I couldn't tell how long the scissors are."

Korsak, who had sensed Maura's unusual unease about being in the library, approached her back. "Just do your best," he soothed.

She nodded. "Do you know where they're from?"

"Standard kitchen scissors. Allex," Frost pointed to the brand.

"See if you can get any prints, I can't do anything until evidence is sustained."

The sergeant behind her sighed. "No prints, Doc. No fibers, no nothing."

"Could be nylon, powder-free latex?" She looked and Korsak shrugged.

"Nobody could find a thing."

She growled and looked at the body of the small black woman in front of her. She frowned and brought herself round to stare at the young woman's face. "Lips are bruised, chin is also darkened. The killer had her mouth shut as she was killed." She felt strange, almost wanting to hear Jane's probable joke about the necessity of being quiet in libraries. She wanted to go home, but she knew she wouldn't get any sleep tonight. Her fingers measured the approximate length of the scissors, and she looked at the proportions of the handle. "The scissors would have pierced the cerebellum, pons, possibly the pituitary gland." She sighed and continued to look at the young woman's injuries. Taking a breath, Maura looked at the pool of blood on the study desk, then held in a gasp. "Left thumb is missing." She shuddered and watched as a tech opened the book on Byron. Now she wanted to puke. Snugly fit inside of the book was the said thumb, blood dousing the writing on the 348th page. "Left thumb has been found." Maura heard Korsak groan behind her and looked back. "You okay?"

"Haven't seen anything as crazy as this since… I dunno." He held his mouth shut. She nodded.

It took an hour for Maura to gather the evidence from Femke's body before she ordered the crime scene technicians to take the body back to the morgue. "Ready for the next one?" Korsak asked and the blonde nodded with a gulp.

She was lead to another desk at the other end of the Rare Books and Manuscript department, until they came to another group of forensic techs. Maura looked at the noose wrapped around his neck. She loosened it gently and looked at the rope burns, vivid on the skin. "Less traumatic to the eye, right, Barry?" She gave a kindly look her best friend's partner and watched him gulp. "Cause of death, closure of the carotid arteries, jugular veins… ligature strangulation… it would have caused cerebral ischemia."

Frost frowned. "Why strangle someone with a noose when it's so obvious the vic didn't do it?"

"Why kill at all?" Maura shrugged. For some reason she felt partial to help with the case now Jane was out on sick leave. "Did CCTV get anything?" This, she looked at the security guard who was shuffling on his feet looking helpless.

Korsak rolled his eyes. "BPL doesn't have CCTV. They claim the building is too old to install wired cameras."

Maura laughed bitterly. "I suppose lessons are made for being learned."

Frost shared a glance with his boss who shook his head and waved it off. "How's Jane, Maura?" He asked, changing the subject to make the situation a little lighter.

The blonde paused her inspection and she looked at the older man. "She's okay… Good actually. No nausea for the last three days… she's still not eating much. I think it's more psychological than anything. Sitophobia."

"Sit-o-what?" Frost's nose wrinkled.

"Sitophobia," Maura supplied calmly, noting the noose knot wrapped at the back of the young black haired man's neck. "The aversion to food. All she can eat right now is toast and cocoa-puffs." She looked closer at the strangulation site. "Strangled from behind… He was also unaware of his killer."

She heard her phone go suddenly and looked anxiously at Korsak. "Excuse me for a second?" The bearded man nodded. She pulled off her gloves and through them into a disposal bag before picking up the vibrating cell. "Hello?"

"I can't do this," Jane said with finality. Her voice was drowned out by incessant crying from Mia who was screeching her head off as she clung to Jane's shoulder for dear life. The brunette paced, and jiggled but the tot still didn't calm down.

"Can't do what, honey?"

"Maura, can you not hear that noise? It's going to make me deaf in a minute if you don't tell me what to…. Oh hey come on," her voice softened considerably. "Shhh…Tell me what you want and we can both go to sleep," she said gently to the red-faced baby. It was no good. Mia screamed harder.

"Jane? Listen to me…"

"Listening… just about."

Maura leaned against a bookshelf and sighed. "Have you fed her?"

"She's not hungry… keeps spitting out the bottle." Jane whined, bopping up and down to soothe the tiny girl but to no avail. The blonde's head thumped against her shoulder in frustration causing the detective to panic. "I put up her pop-up crib, she won't sleep in there, she won't sleep on my chest, she's dry, I changed her diaper… I dunno what I'm doing wrong." She lay Mia back down in the little tent-like crib and watched as her mouth widened the more she cried.

"Jane, have you winded her?" For some reason, the phonecall was a small relief from the gruesome deaths in front of her.

"Oh crap…" She slapped her forehead. "What do I do?"

Maura sighed. "In the changing bag there's a burp pad. Put that on your shoulder…"

"Oookay," Jane rummaged frantically thought the bag and found the thick blanket like cloth. She draped it over her shoulder. "Done…"

"Now, pick her up," the doctor's voice sounded out over the entire library to help Jane hear better. "Place her over your shoulder and rub in circles on her back. This could also be a gentle pat, whatever she's comfortable with."

Jane rolled her eyes, her friend sounding like she was doing a demonstration video. She did what Maura said though and Mia continued to bawl her little eyes out, now shaking in discomfort until the detective heard it. The small expulsion of gas, and then a small gag. "She just barfed on my shoulder, didn't she?"

"Possibly," Maura smiled. "You better now?"

"Yeah," Jane smiled, "I'm the best babysitter ever," she chortled.

"I bet you are," the blonde replied with a smirk, hearing the sarcastic snort of her friend down the phone. "Jane, I have to get back to work… Keep her on your shoulder, you can wind her some more, then she should fall asleep."

"It's bad isn't it?" Jane whispered. She could tell by Maura's harried voice that this was a hard case. There was silence. "I wish I could help." She swayed gently with the infant who was now babbling happily against her neck.

Maura rolled her eyes, "What are you gonna do? Sling the baby on your back and do all your investigating like that? Jane…"

"Jesus, I was just trying to give my support!" Jane snapped slightly. She paused. "I hate that it's got you wigged. What's going on?"

Maura sighed and looked back to Henry Luton, whose fingerprints were being taken by forensics. "I'll tell you when I get home."

"Maura…"

"I've got to go, Jane."

"Maura!"

The doctor growled. "What is it?"

"You're not coming home tonight are you? You're gonna leave me here with the rugrat."

Now tears flooded Maura's eyes. "This… it's horrible."

The detective, who had decided to rest on the couch with the quieting baby, now sat back up again when she heard her friend's tone. "Maur…"

"It's… one woman, a pair of scissors penetrated through the very top of her spinal column, straight into the brain. In her neck, Jane… her thumb was cut off and placed inside the book she was reading. The next, a young man… strangled to death by a noose. A noose, who does that?"

Jane had gotten up again and began to pace, slightly thankful that the walking was putting the infant to sleep. She slipped the cloth from her shoulder and tossed it into a carrier bag. "I hate this."

Maura sniffed back tears. "I know you do."

"If… if that stupid fucking doctor would just clear me… we'd be fine."

The blonde sighed with a gentle smile, then saw Korsak pointing to his watch. "Sweetheart, you can't eat anything but toast and cocoa-puffs at the moment without it causing you to dash for the bathroom."

Jane was getting frustrated and she paced faster. "Text me when you're on your way home."

"I will, better than that, I'll even ring you." the doctor nodded.

"Ooooh," Jane chortled.

"I've got to go, or Vince is going to be asking me when he's going to meet the boyfriend."

Jane spluttered a little, but couldn't keep the smile off her face. "Hey, Maur?"

"Yes, Jane…"

"I love you."

Maura was too stunned to even move, or say anything. She didn't even know what to say back. Mumbling a quick, "Me too," she hung up the phone and wiped the wide eyed expression from her face as well as she could.

The detective looked at the phone in her hand and put it on the kitchen tabletop with a sigh. Maura was really freaked, and she didn't like it; but she was also right. There was no way in hell Jane could ever get to the crime scene without the urge to throw up. She groaned. She was becoming like Frost and it annoyed her to no end. Sensing quiet, she sneakily looked at the baby on her shoulder who was now soundly slumbering. Her heart did a little jump of jubilation before she tottered over to the crib and gently laid Mia down. Doing a little celebratory dance, it took a second for her to realize what she was doing before she looked around self-consciously. "She said, 'me too'." Jane tried not to let the sense of urgency in Maura's voice get to her. _She still said it. But she didn't say, 'I love you too.' Is that different? Doesn't 'Me too,' mean that she didn't really mean it at all? Was she just saying it back because she could, and she didn't want to hurt me? _The detective rolled her eyes. She was too new to this love stuff. She realized she had no idea what she was doing and she growled before picking up the pop-up crib slowly, bringing it into Maura's bedroom.

She gently let it down to the floor, watching in amazement as the baby didn't stir an inch. "You really are adorable," the detective hushed and found a suitable place to put the sleeping child. She sighed and pulled off her sweats and t-shirt before crawling into the double bed. They had begun sleeping together in the same room ever since Jane's nightmares intensified about serial killing delivery boys. She trusted nobody with food at the moment, and both of them had to accept this was going to be a very long recovery.

_Maura woke to a loud wailing coming from the next room. She frowned in worry and dashed out of bed, taking a right turn until she reached the next room down the corridor. Knocking gently, she heard no command, just more wailing and crying. Her hands shook as opened the door, peeking inside to see Jane thrashing about, a sheen of sweat on her skin._

_Hurrying over, Maura sat down at the edge of the mattress and put her hand against Jane's chest. "Wake up, Jane…" _

_Just more moaning. She shook the brunette a little until Jane leapt from the bed and put her hands around Maura's neck. "JANE!" Maura bellowed, "It's me! It's Maura…" She saw panic in her friend's eyes. "Just, let go. Let me go…" She soothed and waited for the fingers to loosen. _

_Jane was still incredibly fuzzy, and the doctor secretly guessed that her friend wouldn't remember it. The cop just looked at her vaguely and began to cry. "Mau… Maura.."_

_"Shhh, I'm here," Maura hushed and pulled her down to sit on the bed. Jane immediately huddled close and began to sob into the woman's shoulder. "Let's go to my room… Come on…" _

_Jane nodded slightly and held Maura's hand as she was pulled around the dark house, flinching at any sound she heard from Bass or Joe. When they were inside the immaculate bedroom, she felt Maura tugging on her clothes. "Wh… What are you doing?" She tested her hoarse voice out into the night air. _

"_You're soaked to the skin," Maura fussed and pulled off her friend's sweats. _

_"You don't need to baby me." Jane grouched. When Maura stood up, the detective held in a gasp at two slightly cold hands on either side of her face. _

_"I am not babying you. You are a grown woman, but you're also going through a lot of psychological distress. You are untrusting, and speculative and you're not the Jane I know. Now get in that bed, and I'll help you go to sleep."_

_"I'm scared…" Jane whispered. _

_"Scared of what?" Maura pacified her with gentle tones to her voice. _

_Jane sat down and rolled into the woman's bed, still warm. "Everything… how did we not know, Maur? A… Anything could have got me… but some fucking Szechuan noodles? Seriously? That's what nearly killed me?" The thought of food made her go green. She held her mouth shut. _

_"Jane?" Jane's eyes were wide. "What is it, are you going to be sick?" Maura asked and sat back when Jane dashed out of the bedroom and the blonde was greeted to the common sound of gagging. She looked at the ceiling and groaned, before standing up, resettling her nightclothes and approaching the on-suite bathroom where Jane was hunched over the toilet bowl, heaving. "Sweetie…" Maura crouched down and rubbed the woman's thin back. _

_"This sucks," Jane spluttered. _

_"Your body's still recovering. The high levels of cortisol in your body won't do much, either" Jane sniffled and felt a small kiss to her shoulder. "I want you to get help." _

"_What? No!" Jane whined. "You mean see a shrink?" _

_Maura shrugged and handed the woman some tissue. "An appropriate psychologist may help you with your recovery, yes." She waited for a long while as Jane mulled the idea over. "You all done?" _

_Jane frowned and nodded. "I hate being a burden." _

_Maura groaned. "Not this self-pitying again, Jane… I do not think of you as a burden. You are my best friend… now let's just get some sleep. Please. You're killing me here."  
>Jane gave a little giggle and wiped her mouth with her hand before padding to the sink and swilling her mouth out with some Listerine. She was led back to the bed and hesitantly lay down under the covers where Maura reached out. "Turn around," the doctor ordered. <em>

_Jane's expression was one of pure hilarity and her eyes widened, eyebrows at her hairline. She peered at the younger woman's face."What?" _

_"Turn over…" Maura said again, this time more gently. Jane shuffled, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She turned around though and was unable to hold in the sigh of contentment when she felt nimble arms wrap around her waist. One hand held her belly and stroked gently, playing with the downy peach fuzz below her navel. "Feel better?"_

_Jane's breath caught. "Absolutely," she whispered. _

_"Good," Maura seemed happy with that. "Sleep." And so Jane did, snuggling back into her big spoon of a friend. It was the best she'd slept in a long, long time. _

oxoxoxo

"You okay?" Korsak looked at the blonde who came back and put on a new pair of gloves. Maura sighed and looked at him wearily.

"Jane's having a little trouble at home."

"Wh…is she okay?" He looked concerned.

To this, Maura gave a small snort. "We were supposed to be babysitting for a friend of Angela's. I had to leave her with a six-month-old."

"Janie? With a baby?" Korsak chuckled.

"Exactly," Maura laughed at his incredulous look. "So she phoned and I was greeted to the sound of a very unhappy infant." She shook her head, her ears still ringing.

Korsak shook his head in disbelief. "You've changed that girl. She hates babies."

"Oh she still does," Maura chirped. "It took a lot of convincing."

"I'll bet," he said, watching her as she left to re-examine the second body.

"Time of death, doctor?" Frost asked, as Maura as given some calculations to look over from one of her techs.

Maura checked the body's joints and limbs.

"He was found, when?"

Frost looked at his notes. "Timmermans, found at 7.40, Luton at 8pm. He's a little more hidden." Maura nodded.

"Body in its first stages of rigor, just like Femke," Maura she felt around the bicep and calculated the strength of stiffness. "We've been here for around 3 hours… I'd say time of death for both of them was around 6.30. Lab tests will confirm this."

Frost seemed happy with that. "I'm gonna head back, see what they've got for us."

Maura nodded as they began to cart the man's body away. "Looks like I'm going back too…"

"Follow you there?" Frost asked.

"Sure," she nodded and watched him leave. Taking off her gloves, she grabbed her handbag but was stopped from turning when Korsak caught her.

"Dr. Isles, go home."

"Go home?" Maura frowned, shaking her head. "Are you out of your mind? There are two bodies there, I need to go to the lab."

Korsak sighed and looked at the woman's deep-set eyes. "You are too tired to drive."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm driving. You buy coffee, but there is no way I'm letting you into that car of yours, Maura. No way."

She huffed and nodded, shouldering her handbag before stomping out of the library.

The ride over to the precinct was uncomfortably silent until Vince broke it. "Jane settling in okay?"

"She's fine," Maura nodded, her mind inadvertently rushing back with arms wide open to the probable image of Jane fast asleep in her bed.

"Good… good," Korsak nodded. "Are you together?"

Maura's jaw dropped, then moved it to try and close her mouth. "What?"

"Are you two an item? Or are you just making everybody think that," he said slowly.

Maura didn't reply, just slouched further into the car seat. She was relieved when the car stopped and she practically ran out of the vehicle.

"Maura!"

"What is it?" She snapped.

"Oh… umm, you forgot your bag," he held up the leather Vivienne Westwood Berkley bag. She walked up to him and muttered a thanks before walking up the horrible steps to the police department. "And Maura!"

"What?" She turned to him, tears in her eyes. She knew the emotions were from lack of sleep and the long day but that didn't help matters much. She needed coffee, now.

"You can talk to me, you know?" He patted his chest with a pointed look. "I did when I was scared. You can if you are…"

She swallowed and nodded, then turned her back; the prospect of caffeine seemingly too far away.

To be continued...


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Here it is, the third chapter. Welcome to fluffland. This chapter is very much focused of the beginning of Jane and Maura's relationship and stands as the turning point in the plot. Hope you enjoy, and please review... it keeps me going. Knowing people love the story has made me love it more.

oxoxoxoxo

Luckily, the autopsies had only taken two hours to do. The two corpses showed straight forward deaths. Femke's cerebellum had been punctured, as had the pituitary gland. Frost observed from the corner of the room, unable to watch up close, but he was processing everything Maura had said. No fingerprints had been found at all and due to the swiftness of the kill, the woman hadn't struggled. Luton on the other hand was a different case. He had struggled, and Maura was pleased with herself when she found a cotton fiber of a dark green tint under the man's nails. He had scratched at the killer to be released. It looked like something that belonged to a summer coat, tightly wound and symmetrically complete.

The doctor collapsed into the chair at Jane's desk in the bullpen and looked at the ceiling. "What time is it?"

"4am," Frost said.

Korsak peered at his computer. "Let's run through the facts…then it's time to go home." They nodded and everybody surrounded around the monitor. "Two students, one an international exchange, one an American-Englishman. Both at BCU studying English Literature. They were in the same class." He paused, running over the information they had gotten. "We'll start with Femke Timmermans. Born in Aruba, parents are poor, but she was given a scholarship from BCU and her old high school, E. P. B, Oranjestad. Second in the class, the top being Henry. Hard worker, security recognised her. Apparently she was at the library nearly every night." He continued to read, occasionally looking at his team who were writing everything down. "Next… Henry Luton… English mother, from Brighton, UK, American father… He's from Kansas. Top of the class, so we may be looking for rivals… anybody with a grudge towards both these kids. Maura?"

The doctor nodded and stood up, toning down the jargon so that her colleagues could understand. "The first weapon was a pair of multifunctional scissors. Yes, these could have come from everywhere. The scissors punctured a clear portion of Femke's brain. Three sections were totally shredded and pieces of cartilage on the top cervical vertebrae was split. This killer was angry, the force of the stabbing was powerful, notice the immediate ripping of the epidermis. The entrance sight?"

She showed the crew a picture on her laptop. Everybody scribbled in their notepads. "Back to Henry Luton… we have more evidence here. A cotton fiber was found under his right nail. He struggled, and reached back to stop his attacker to no avail. His trachea was crushed, vertebrae out of line… it was a nasty strangling. The fiber is from a green summer coat, tightly wound." She showed them the images conjured up by forensics at the site of the murder.

"Thank you Dr. Isles," Korsak glanced at her. She nodded and sat down, rubbing at her tired, irritated eyes. After the rest of the homicide team were updated, Korsak smiled. "You ready to go home?"

Maura grinned back, having perked up slightly. "Yes.… I was rather irritable earlier, I apologize."

He shrugged and gathered his things, following her out of the office after turning the lights out. Locking up, he smiled. "Everybody has their bad days."

"This is true… Sometimes we just have to free our brains to draw additional connections and conclusions from different ideas… different concepts." She looked at his blank look. "I'm saying… sometimes your brain can't help but go down that long spiral of a bad mood. It's natural." He blinked. "It's all neurobiology."

"Of course," he chuckled and put the car into gear before driving out of the staff carpark. "Don't sweat it… everybody goes through these tough cases… I know it's hard for you."

"It was the best place of my entire college experience. I used to…" she had a warm smile on her face. "I used to bring my blanket, make a little project for myself here and just… study." Korsak nodded, gesturing for her to continue. "You know… I got Bass when I was at BCU?" He shook his head. "And I was thinking, what do I call him? I had no idea… So I left him alone on his second night and went to study… Dr. William M. Bass."

Korsak's eyes widened. "BPL found you your tortoise's name?" Maura chuckled and nodded.

"I found myself there," she gave a watery smile. "I learnt who I was, that I wasn't as freaky as everyone thought I was, because there were people there who wanted to learn just as badly as I wanted to."

The older man sighed as he pulled up outside Maura's house. "Never let the cases you work on taint your memories, Maura." He watched her swallow painfully. "If you're saying what I think you're saying… that place made you who you are… a little crazy, sure… but you're gifted and a few senseless murders aren't going to take that away from you. You've learnt it all already." Now tears fell from her eyes and she felt herself get welcomed into friendly hug. "Now… you sleep well. Tell Jane I said hi." Korsak smiled, chucking her chin.

She smiled and looked at the time on the dashboard before getting out of the car. "She'll probably still be in bed." She shook her head, "what are the bets she's gonna complain my feet are cold?" Her nose wrinkled.

"So you are together." he grinned. "I knew it."

Maura cleared her throat with darting eyes. "Slip of the tongue."

"Heh, sure…" Korsak shook his head, still chuckling . "Frost owes me $50."

Rolling her eyes, Maura couldn't keep the smile off her face, for once feeling like she was really part of the team. She hadn't felt like this since she first learnt who her real father was. The homicide team had banded together and proved to be a family she could fall back against, should she need to. Maura let herself into the house, hushing Joe Friday who was letting out gruff little warning barks from upstairs.

Slipping off her heels, Maura took out a bottle of water from the fridge and quietly padded upstairs. She brushed her teeth, then splashed some water on her face and looked at her worn face in the mirror. Entering her bedroom with a sigh, she wasn't exactly surprised to see Jane sprawled over the bed, covers twisted in every direction possible. What she was surprised to see, was a pile of sweats on the floor and a visible bra strap tightened on Jane's back.

Maura shuddered and peered at the crib, seeing Mia fast asleep on her back, her little arms stretched in the air.

One phone call. That's all it had taken and Jane had successfully looked after the baby for the whole night. Saying she was proud was an understatement and without fully knowing what had come over, the woman stripped down to her own underwear and slipped into bed. "Jane… move over."

"Gowaayyy," the brunette grumbled and hugged the duvet closer, her legs tangling around the sheet.

"Jane," Maura husked and finally Jane stirred.

"Maura?"

"Yeah it's me," the medical examiner smiled and hesitantly reached out to pull Jane against her. Jane giggled at the tickling feeling against her belly as Maura's hand caressed her bare skin.

"I babysat."

"You did good," Maura whispered in her ear.

Jane nodded and kept her eyes closed. "You wanna talk now?" She felt the head against her back shake. "At all?"

"No…"

"Alright," Jane nodded and turned swiftly in Maura's arms. She stared at the doctor, looking at the symmetrical, slightly pointed nose, the glistening eyes. Leaning forward she gave a smooth kiss on the woman's lips. She thought about something…"We're in bras and panties…"

"We are… It's too hot." Maura nodded, wondering why Jane was stating the obvious. "Is that a problem?"

Jane shook her head with a small smile. "Come here…" She pulled Maura forward, then hesitated and waited, her breath on Maura's lips. Maura answered her by closing the distance and she initiated a slow, warm kiss between the two of them. The detective felt Maura's tongue gain entrance to her mouth. She kissed her back, suckling gently, then pulled back in shock. 

"Too much?" Maura whispered. Jane's eyes were bright and she nodded and shook her head at the same time.

"I…I uhh… never felt like this before," Jane whispered. "I dunno how I'm supposed to feel."

"Understandable," Maura smiled. "Too fast?"

"No…no," Jane took a breath, unconsciously shuffling further into Maura's arms. "I like this.. But I'm confused."

"You don't have to put a label on anything, you know…" Maura said gently and Jane nodded, glad that her best friend knew what the problem was.

"I wanna take this slow." The detective said gently. "I don't wanna rush."

"Allowed," Maura smiled and rolled them over until the doctor was settled against Jane, legs tangling together as they pulled the duvet with them. "Can I ummm…" She hesitated briefly. "Can I see your breasts?"

Jane couldn't stop the bark of laughter escape, then covered her mouth, trying to hush herself down. "Sorry…sorry, I wasn't expecting that." She saw Maura's unwavering expression and frowned. "Hey… I'm sorry."

Maura shrugged and waved it off. "So… would I be able to?"

Jane sighed. "You wanna see my tits…"

"V-Very much so," Maura mumbled, her feet warming up on Jane's healthy calves and thighs. "Only if you want to."

Jane took a shaky breath and bent down, pecking the dark blonde woman on the lips. While she kissed her, she curled her hand behind her own back and slowly undid the bra strap. The time she took taking off the garment was too much and Maura hastily pulled the straps through Jane's arms. The brunette giggled, her mouth never leaving Maura's lips. She suddenly felt cold fingers against her nipples, palms against her lower breast. "Jesus…"

"Bad circulation. Very mild Raynaud's Syndrome," Maura explained hastily, "… vasospastic disorder…my hands, they don't warm up as well as they should-" She was stopped by two fingers on her lips.

"Sweetie… I don't wanna know. Seriously, Maur, you can't googlemouth me with your hands on my boobs." She was answered with a shy squeeze and chuckled, replacing the fingers on Maura's mouth with her lips. They made out slowly, exploring each other's mouths and breasts, Maura's bra having been pulled off by Jane's slightly awkward fingers. It took three turns, but finally the detective managed to peel the laced black satin bra off.

Eventually, they calmed and Maura hugged her new lover tightly. "Korsak asks if we're together."

"Are we?" Jane asked, chuckling.

"Do you want to be?" Maura countered with a whisper.

It took Jane an excruciating amount of time to answer. "Yes." She nodded. "Like I said, I love you."

Maura smiled, leaning forward to kiss Jane's lips, the women having swapped places. She peppered busses along Jane's chest and paid close attention to her lover's left nipple, kissing gently until she heard the childish giggling from Jane who seemed to be far too ticklish in that area. The doctor felt an urgent hand on her head and looked up. The detective peered at her with questioning eyes, waiting for the answer to her unasked question. "I love you too, Jane Rizzoli."

The whisper caused a sudden sob to emerge from the brunette and Maura's eyebrows raised in confusion. "Jane?" She lay beside her and welcomed the cop into her arms. She knew it was overwhelming for Jane's rather stoic nature and trailed hands up and down her friend's back. "Shh, I've got you."

"I know," Jane whimpered, "That's why I'm crying," Maura heard the snuffling laugh coming from her neck as Jane processed the strangeness of the situation. She smiled and continued to hush the detective, hands slowly trailing up and down her back. Jane calmed down after about five minutes and began to mouth against Maura's full breast.

"I need to sleep." Maura said gently, feeling her eyes droop.

"We didn't talk about the case…" Jane said with a pout.

"This was better," Maura rolled over with a grin and pressed a kiss to the detective's shoulder. "Will you be okay with Mia for the morning?"

Jane nodded and cuddled her new girlfriend close. "It's kinda fun."

"So you take it back then?"

"Take what back?" The cop's brow furrowed.

Maura put on her best 'Jane' voice and lowered her tone considerably to mimic the detective's husky inflections, "I'm never having kids… or getting married."

Jane shrugged, noticeably embarrassed. She hid her face a little. "I dunno…"

That was enough for Maura to consider and she snuggled down under the covers, feeling Jane search out for her. They were interrupted by a long whine from the crib. "Guess that's me up."

"I'm sorry," Maura hushed. "I wish I could have helped out more."

"Yeah well…" Jane grumbled. "Two can play at that game. I wanted to help before…" She hopped out of bed and shrugged on a t-shirt, picking the sleepy baby up. Bringing her back over to the bed, she sat Mia up who began to crawl up towards Maura. The doctor hugged the covers desperately around herself and was greeted to a sloppy baby kiss on the shoulder.

"Jane!" Mia began to giggle, looking up at the cop who laughed herself. "I need to sleep."

"Fine… fine," Jane grumbled. "She doesn't wanna play with us," the tall woman whispered to the baby in a conspiring manner. She picked the infant up and settled her against her bent legs. Soon the child began to fuss and Jane sighed, bringing the baby bag and child into the living room as she began to prepare her breakfast of breadsticks and formula.

Turning on the TV, she put the news on and watched a sudden news flash about a double homicide in Boston Public Library. She tried to get as much information as she could about the case, but knew the only way to hear about it was from Maura, who at this moment in time seemed very shaken up about the whole affair. Looking down, she watched Mia's eyes closing in bliss as she drank from her bottle.

She remembered both Maura and her mother being Kangaroos, and how she'd mocked them.. But this was kinda fun. She felt a sense of accomplishment she usually felt at the end of solving a case. Making someone happy. That's all it was in the end. Mia squealed, kicking her feet against Jane's knees as she continued to drink. Jane laughed, then brought her attention back up to the television, catching up on her sports. Surprisingly, after three hours, Maura came out to the kitchen, looking wide awake and appearing as if she'd been asleep for 9 hours.  
>"What are you doing out of bed?" Jane was on the floor, playing with Mia who was fiddling with a wooden spoon.<p>

"Couldn't sleep," Maura replied, walking towards the coffee maker. "Would you like one?"

Jane winced and shook her head. Her expression turned inwards. "You know what I would like?"

"What?"

"A ham sandwich."

Maura's head darted up. "Really?"

"Sure… got a craving."

The doctor gave a wide smile. "We have pastrami, will that suffice?"

"Yeah," Jane grinned. "Oh umm… now you're up, do you think you could uhh..."

"What is it?"

Jane held Mia away from herself at arms length. "Change her… I can't stomach it."

Maura snorted. "So that's your excuse," she shook her head, giggling. "I think I can let you off just this once." She got her own breakfast prepared and then made a start on Jane's. "Think you can handle some fruit?"

"Anything that's not apples or apricots," Jane said with a crooked grin.

Maura laughed. She listened avidly at the sounds of Mia babbling excitedly as she smacked the wooden spoon against the hard laminate and tried not to let her heart flutter. Ever since she had saved that baby's life at the sauna, her mind was constantly on the idea of raising a family. The problem she faced now was waiting until she was settled in this new relationship with Jane to bring it up. And that might just take years. She brought over Jane's dish of breakfast, a sliced banana covered in peanut butter and a pastrami on rye bread that she'd defrosted from the freezer. "Try that…"

"Thank you," Jane grinned and pulled Maura gently by the collar of her newly put on blouse, giving her a quick kiss of appreciation.

Maura stood up with fluttering eyes when they broke away. "I uhh… I'm going to have to get used to this, I think." Jane just nodded and watched as the blonde picked the baby up. "Come on, stinky." Maura took the changing bag and hung it over her free shoulder, "be back in a minute."

Jane smiled and watched her leave. She picked up her phone and popped a piece of banana in her mouth, chewing cautiously before she realized she was enjoying herself. "Korsak? It's me…"

"Jane! How're you doing?"

"Good… you hear this noise?" She chomped loudly and could only imagine the wince at the other end of the phone. "I'm eating… banana, would you believe… so you need to do anything you can to get Dr. Carver to clear me."

"Jane…"

"Come on, Vince…"

"It's not that simple, have you arranged another session with him?"

"Yeah… on Monday. I can't wait that long."

Korsak laughed. "Two days, Rizzoli?"

Jane sighed and batted the drool covered wooden spoon on the rug in front of her, just because she could. "Maura was completely spooked last night."

"I know," he sighed. "If I'm honest, you not being at work isn't helping."

Jane waved her hands. "You see? She needs me there, you all do." She slowed down her speech and sighed. "Korsak, I need to be on this case. Please…"

Vince sighed, shrugging on his suit jacket. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you," she grinned. "Heyyy, everything okay?" Maura nodded with a smile and sat Mia back down by Jane who watched the infant try and climb up her chest, supporting her bottom with one hand to stop the baby from falling.

"You talkin' to me, Rizzoli?"

"No I uhh… I was talking to Joe Friday…" She rolled her eyes when Mia decided to suddenly shriek excitedly, bopping up and down as she tried to stand up against her babysitter's shoulders.

"Awww, Jane Rizzoli is playing mommies and daddies," Vince sighed dramatically. "What a beautiful thing to hear."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Quit getting weepy on me, just… will you try getting me back on the team? Or bring my appointment forward?" She took a chomp out of her sandwich and hummed.  
>"Sure," Korsak nodded to himself. "I'll see Maura in a bit?"<p>

"Yeah… She's in at midday." Jane said her goodbyes and hung up, looking at Maura who was tucking into some granola and milk behind her on the couch. "I think it might work."  
>"You're sure you want to get back? Jane, this is a horrible case."<p>

"I've seen worse," Jane reached up and stroked the woman's thigh. "You're taking it very personally. And that's totally allowed." Maura felt like she should argue back, but she had to face facts that Jane was right. Jane blinked when Maura put her bowl of cereal down and lowered herself to the floor, sitting in front of Jane with a smile on her face. Mia turned in Jane's arms, pointing and squealing at Maura. "Hey Maur?"

"Yeah…" The blonde rolled a rattle around in her hand.

"Is it bad that I like this so much?" She looked at the baby, then back up and watched Maura's eyes widen. She shook her head frantically. "I mean… I.. I dunno what I mean."

Maura quickly covered the woman's hand. "I know what you meant." She leaned forward and pecked Jane's lips, receiving a little slap to the cheek from an excitable Mia. The baby seemed to have surprised herself when Maura's mouth dropped. Her big blue eyes looked up at both of them and she showed off an expert pout. Jane found herself in a heap of giggles.

"Jane…"

"She just full on hit you!" Jane held her stomach, rolling around on the floor. This set the baby off and she began to point and giggle. Maura realized then that both of them had lost the plot and she sat Mia on her lap, letting her slouch against her chest. Jane sat up again and looked at the woman, holding the child who was snuggling against her torso. "Must kill Jamie to leave her behind."

Maura nodded, and was offered a small bear from the infant. "Thank you…" She looked at Jane. "You want this to be more than a one time thing?"

"The babysitting?" Jane asked with a blink. She watched as Mia happily began to gnaw on Maura's thumb, and she noticed the woman's discomfort with it.

"Yes." Maura nodded, soldiering on. She finally claimed her saliva covered thumb back, unfortunately a little roughly and heard the baby begin to cry.

"Uh-oh…" Jane murmured with a small grin. "Here," she handed the teething ring to the baby and watched Mia put it in her mouth, drooling everywhere. Jane admired the child for a moment, then jumped when her phone began to ring, sendng the chirpy infant into another fit of giggles. "Rizzoli…"

Carver's sneering voice sounded down the phone. "Korsak's told me to clear you."

"He has, has he?" Jane chortled at the sergeant's new found balls. He'd been more persuasive and forth-coming than he had in the past as a detective.

"Apparently, you're fit enough to go back to work."

"I am," Jane nodded. "I've eaten breakfast… it was fine, I've looked after a baby all night last night and changed her diaper three times. I'm ready to work, Doc." She used the name teasingly.

"Come by my office in an hour. Your clearing papers will be signed."

"That easy, huh?" Jane grinned.

"You certainly seem well enough," he mumbled. "If it gets me off your hands, I'm all for it."

Hanging up, Jane looked at her new girlfriend in bewilderment. "He cleared me. Just like that,."

"You're on the case?" Maura's eyes lit up.

"I'm back on the case," Jane did a small celebratory dance and ended it with a kiss to Maura's cheek. "This day just got way better."

"I'll say," Maura whispered and felt another little pat from the baby in her arms, albeit a little less hard this time

Jane looked at the baby asleep in her car seat in the back of the car. She turned the engine off and watched as Maura got out of the car, pulling the backdoor open. The detective groaned and got out of the car, taking Maura's burden off her so that she could carry Mia up the steps. When they got into the elevator of Angela's new apartment block, Jane set down the car seat, placed her hands at Maura's waist and kissed her.

"What was that for?" Maura frowned.

Jane grinned as the elevator moved them further up into the building. "Oh.. Just cause I can," she smiled enigmatically and finally the door opened. Maura shook her head with a grin and led the way until they reached Angela's apartment. Jane knocked on the door. They waited a good minute. Nothing. Trying her mother's cell, she waited until an automated message rung out, telling her the woman had her phone off. "She's not there…" Jane whispered and knocked again, this time harder, "Ma? Open up!"

"I don't think she's in there, Jane," Maura whispered, touching Jane's back.

"Where is she?" Jane was still facing the door, her voice taking on a panicked tone. She turned to the sound of footsteps and her mouth dropped. "Ma?"

"Janie!" Angela stumbled a little, dressed in an elegant evening dress, makeup still covering her face. "What are you doing here?"

Jane held the car seat and looked down. "You… you said, in the morning… you said to bring… what the-" Maura held her hand knowing Jane was about to explode. "Bingo! You said you were going to out to bingo!" She shook her head and put Mia on the floor, turning to pace around the third floor.

"Jane…"

"No!" Jane shook her head. "If you were on a date, you were on a date, Ma. You didn't have to lie to me. She's just been fed." Stomping off, she muttered a quick, "I'll be in the car," before walking hastily down the corridor until she reached the elevator.

Maura sighed and looked at Angela who was a little out of sorts. "You okay?"

"I don't know," Angela tried to smile. "I didn't wanna lie…"

"I know," Maura soothed. "Shall we go in?" Angela nodded and fumbled for the keys in her handbag and let the both of them in. "Soo…" Maura sat the sleeping baby in the corner of the small living room and watched as Angela began to make some coffee. "Who's the man?"

"Man?" Angela pretended to ask distractedly until she turned. "What man?" She heard the sigh behind her.

"You can tell me…" Maura approached the flustered woman. "I won't tell Jane, I promise."

There was silence for about a minute. "It was Frank, Maura."

The doctor heard the defeatist exhale and frowned. "Frank… Wait, Frank? Mr. Rizzoli, Frank?" Angela let out a hopeful smile.

"I missed him."

"Oh… " She paused. "Oh!" The younger woman peered at her girlfriend's mother. "That's good news, right?" Angela nodded. "That is great news," she reiterated, "come here," she offered the woman a hug and Angela gladly took it.

"You should… probably go back to Janie…"

"Eh," Maura shrugged, "Let her stew for a little while." She sat down and was given an espresso. "Jane and I… We…" She felt uncomfortable talking about it, but Angela gestured her to carry on. "Sealed the deal…"

"Sealed the de…" Angela's mouth dropped when she figured out and crushed Maura in a hug. "For real?" Maura attempted to nod. "Ohhhh, that has made my day."

The doctor brushed herself down when she could finally breathe again and smiled shyly. "Mine too…" Her voice cracked and she downed her espresso. They talked for a few more minutes before Maura broke the silence. "I better go. She's going to be sulking for a long while." Angela nodded. "Will you be okay here?"

"Sure, sure," the Italian woman chortled. "You go have fun."

Maura grinned. She bent down to Mia and stroked the girl's little hand, the baby still slumbering. "I'll miss you little one." She stood up and picked up her handbag.

"How did you get on by the way? Janie roar the house down when you brought her home?"

Maura smiled. "I had a tough night on a case… She had Mia the whole night. Your daughter is more maternal than she'd ever let on." She watched Angela's smile brighten, tears now in her eyes. "See you soon, Mrs. Rizzoli," Maura winked.

"Maura?" Angela called after her.

"Yes?"

"Tell her. Tell her not to get too excited, but I don't wanna lie to her anymore."

Maura smiled, nodding and exited the house to deal with a certain Miss. Grouchio, who was probably slouched in the car with the radio on full blast.

She was half right. Jane was slouched in her seat, but playing on her iPhone with a frown on her face. Maura sighed and pulled open the door to Jane's car, sitting down. "Hey…"

Jane didn't say anything, just sunk further down in her chair. She flinched a little when cold hands held her at the cheeks. She was kissed on the lips, and her eye fluttered open when Maura pulled away. "She lied to me, Maur…"

Maura shook her head, and closed the distance again, this time to give the pouty woman a kiss on the nose. "She didn't want to get your hopes up, honey…" Maura hushed and looked her girlfriend square in the eye. "And you still shouldn't, but she's seeing your father again."

"My…" Jane stuttered, rubbing her eyes. "My dad?" Maura nodded with a gentle smile.

"I think they're trying to work things out… just… don't get too excited. It's up to them." The doctor warned and Jane perked up, nodding excitedly.

"Really?"

Maura smiled. "Yes, Jane. Now you promise not to get too excited?" Jane's smile was wide, her white teeth glistening in the dark carpark.

"Promise…"

"And don't tell Frankie… not just yet." Maura hushed. Jane nodded again and the doctor sighed, turning to start the engine. "Right… We'll go pick up my car at the library first?" Jane gave the distracted affirmative as she scoured through her phone, looking at the evidence Korsak had sent her.

They would have to question the dean of Humanities, and the teacher of English Literature; one Dr. Luke Jacobs.

Maura put the car into gear. "Let's go get you cleared for duty, Detective Rizzoli." The medical examiner rolled her eyes when she saw Jane pump her fist from the corner of her eye. She heard the hoot of excitement and her nose crinkled as she drove off to another days' work, this one seeming much more exciting than last night. She guessed it was something to do with the woman next to her who was now merrily singing to an old Yardbird's song. "Jane," Maura muttered. "Do you have to?"

"Why yes, yes I do," Jane warbled, "You know what? On Tuesday, we go to the Robber."

"Tuesday? Tuesday is movie night." Maura frowned.

Jane gave a lecherous grin and rubbed her hands together. "It is…usually, but this week, Tuesday is Karaoke night. And we're gonna get plastered." It was then that Jane carried on singing. Maura snorted with a feigned worried sigh but kept on driving, hoping to God that Jane never needed to be on sick leave, ever, ever again.

To be continued...


	4. Chapter 4

Hi, sorry for the long delay. As you can tell, this is a long chapter, and will be the longest one. Hopefully you'll enjoy it and again, feel free leave to reviews.

oxoxoxoxo

When both women were in their separate cars as they travelled to work, both women thinking about the newly developed feelings they felt for each other. Jane was driving on autopilot, unable to get the image of Maura's breasts out of her head. They were much larger than her own, like a real woman. A woman. She was in a relationship with a woman. Women had vaginas. Her eyes widened, feeling completely overwhelmed and she swerved suddenly, driving a little too close to the curb on Congress St. She took a shaky breath, then giggled before she arrived outside the building to Dr. Carver's office. Luckily she was close to BPD headquarters. She grabbed her phone, and straightened her clothes before hopping out of the car and jogging up the stares. She signed in, took the elevator before she approached Carver's receptionist. "Detective Rizzoli…I believe Dr. Carver is expecting me."

The receptionist picked up the receiver of the phone, muttered a few words, then looked up. "Go right in," she smiled.

"Thanks," she gave the woman a slightly flirty grin and knocked on the door to the large office.

"Jane," he sighed. "Sit down."

"Nice to see you too, doc." Jane smirked and settled against the couch, curling up her legs.

"No boots on my sofa," he pointed, taking his glasses off huffily. She pouted and took her feet off the couch, crossing her legs at the ankles. "So how are you feeling?"

She smiled. "Good… really good."

"Ah," he nodded, pressing his fingers to steeple together. He looked at her for a long while. "So you've found love."

She blinked. "Huh?"

"I know that face. Dr. Isles, am I right?"

Jane's brow furrowed and she stood up, attempting not to pace. "Umm… and you know that, how?" Her feet moved on their own and she swivelled around, walking around the couch.

"Jane, I'm a psychologist… Last week I was having to do home visits. I don't even do home visits usually. This mood change isn't just because you're feeling better. So… how long have you known you were in love with Dr. Isles."

Jane fumbled with her hands and flopped back down onto the couch. "I thought this was about me getting cleared."

He shrugged, "humor me."

"When did I know? Am I allowed to say I don't know exactly?"

"Is it the truth?" He asked, chewing on the end of his glasses.

"Yes…no?" She sighed. "I've always loved her. She annoyed the crap out of me at first… Little Miss Priss. And then she was my friend, you know?" She took a breath, working out her feelings. "For some reason, I'd do anything for her. She's quirky, and ridiculously beautiful, and she's smart, but then completely naïve at the same time. Does that make sense?" _Stop… you've said too much. You hate this guy, now you're pouring your heart out? _He shrugged and gestured for her to carry on. _Don't do it, Jane… Don't tell him another thing. _"And I can handle that… I can't handle guys who act all tough, and you can't really see inside them. You can't see that little gem inside them."

"Like you?" Carver asked, leaning back in his chair.

She chuckled and pointed a finger at him. "You see you're wrong. I can be vulnerable around her, I'm not always tough around her." She looked at a spot of blood on the edge of her thumb, the skin having frayed slightly after nervously biting the digit. "She's the big spoon," Jane looked up with a grin, then cleared her throat realising where she was.

"And your health?"

"Like I said, baby looked after… changed diapers," she didn't tell him she couldn't quite manage number twos, "I've eaten… now all I want is some tuna salad for lunch and a few fries."

"So you're appetite is suffering then," he smiled sarcastically.

"It's destroyed." She wriggled in her chair. "Now, you gonna clear me?"

He sighed and held up the pad of yellow paper. "I'm going to send a copy of this to Cavanaugh. If he suspects you to become unwell again, he will tell me in an instant. There's no hiding Rizzoli."

"No reason to hide," she smiled at him with twinkling eyes. "Gimme gimme gimme," she chuckled as he handed the paper. She clapped her hands and picked up her car keys from the leather couch.

"Oh and Rizzoli?"

"Yeah?"

"Tone it down, you're starting to make me feel ill." She grinned more brightly and left, shaking her head before kissing the yellow clearing form in her hand. The man's words rung in her head and she looked around self-consciously then cleared her throat again as she left the building. Taking the one-block drive back to the precinct, she walked into the bullpen and approached Korsak from behind before waving the paper in front of his face.

"What the…" Korsak spluttered until Jane poked her head around with a grin, waving the paper again for emphasis. "Let me see that." He tugged the sheet off of her and watched from the corner of his eyes as Jane pulled a chair next to Maura who had already claimed the seat at the detective's desk.

"Hi…" Jane gave a moony sigh.

"Hey there," Maura said, a little more cordial, but friendly enough. She was happily tucking into an apple, making doodles on the woman's notepad. Frost cleared his throat and they both looked up.

"You ready Jane?"

"For what?" The detective now grumbled, feeling her former self appear without a warning.

He smiled and threw some keys at her. "BCU, we're gonna see what's going on."

Jane pumped her fist and stood up, shrugging on the jacket that she had just taken off. "Hey…"

It took Maura a second to realize the brunette was addressing her. "Mom's cooking dinner tonight."

"At hers?" Maura enquired.

"Ours," Jane felt her heart thud in her chest, but finally got her body to bend down and give the blonde a gentle kiss goodbye. "Text me when you get home?"

Maura nodded. It was all she could do, she couldn't even get her mouth to move to kiss the woman back she was in so much shock.  
>Frost's eyes popped out of his head, turning around to share a what-the-fuck-just-happened look with Korsak. He watched as Jane strode ahead of him, then realized she was waiting for him and jogged after her before they both left the office.<br>Korsak swivelled around to look at Maura who just sunk further into Jane's chair with a simper spreading rapidly on her face. "Haven't you got anything better to do than waste valuable paper?" He pointed to the love hearts she was drawing and she rolled her eyes, unaware of what she'd been doing.

"Nope…"

"Then if the reports are done, why are you even at work? On a Sunday?" He asked, then saw the smile never leaving Maura's face. "Oh… you knew she was getting cleared."

"We live together," the blonde stated the obvious.

"Ohh god almighty, I wish we could go back to when you were both sullen and grouchy and nobody was forced to inhale the love spores."

"Where did you read that? A Heinlein novel?" She smirked. "You do realize such an occurrence of said 'love spores' is highly impossible." Maura sighed and threw her apple core in the bin.

"And she's making jokes!" Korsak lamented to the rest of the relatively empty bullpen. "I've had enough of this," he grumped and she couldn't help but give a small giggle. She did know she'd have to make sure Jane lessened the PDA a little… just a little.

Smiling, she went downstairs to check her fax-machine. All toxicology results had come back negative of any suspicious substances; always a good thing to find out on an otherwise slow Sunday.

Getting out her phone, she dialled a number. "Angela, it's me."

"Hey there sweetie, is Jane back at work?"

"She's like a mad puppy running around in a pet store. She's just gone to interview some people about a case." Maura chuckled. "I'm just about to leave actually, what time are you coming over tonight?"

"I was gonna leave at five-thirty, is that too late?" The Italian woman's voice had a natural guilt-making inflection in it that caused her to get her own way. Maura was one of the only ones to never notice.

"Fine," Maura smiled. "I was going to get groceries on the way home."

Angela hesitated, looking around her bare apartment and down . "Umm… could I come with you?"

"Of course," Maura scoffed, "but are you sure? It's your day off."

The older woman sighed. "I'm bored, Mia's having her nap… this place is too lonely, Maura."

Maura juggled her lunchbox and her bag before slipping the former into the latter. "You can always move back into the guest house if you want," she said thoughtfully. "You didn't have to vacate so hastily… If you're struggling for money-"

"No, no…" Angela stopped her there, trying not to bite. Money unnerved her and though she was happy her daughter would be supported by her girlfriend should she need to be, the café worker detested the idea of being a charity case. "And anyway, you and Janie are in your little honeymoon period, sweetie. There is no way I want to be hearing anything coming from any bedroom whatsoever," she grouched. "No matter how much I support what you have going on there…"

The woman's grumbling made Maura laugh and she shrugged on her jacket, getting ready to leave. "See you in a bit, Whole Foods on Cambridge St alright? Half an hour." Angela agreed and they hung up, leaving Maura to gather the last of her things before she called it a day.

"Okay, what the hell was that?" Frost pointed to the air, supposedly gesturing to the long gone headquarters of BPD.

"What?" Jane asked smugly, slinking down in her seat as Frost kept his eye on the road. She couldn't help but chuckle when she saw his face, eyes wide and unmoving. "Come on, it was just a kiss."

"Just a kiss? Just a… Rizzoli, you don't just kiss. You don't just…" He huffed, unable to finish the sentence. "What about when you were dating that Karl guy?"

"Who?" Jane frowned, pausing until she remembered after a few seconds. "Briggs?"

"See?" Frost laughed. "You didn't even know his first name! The amount of times he tried to give you a smooch and you acted like he was a leper."

"It wouldn't have surprised me if he was," Jane smirked. "But anyway, Maura's different."

He shrugged, admitting it was true. "How did this happen so fast anyway?" He looked at her incredulous grin. "You know what I mean…"

"No, I don't," Jane laughed. "You're saying you saw nothing…nothing at all these passed two and a half years?" He was silent. "Aww, stop fucking with me, Frost… I know you had a bet on with Korsak. And you lost."

His mouth widened in shock. "I can't believe he told you," he was rather effeminate in his expressions which caused Jane to chuckle even more until her belly hurt.

"Maura told me…" Jane smiled, resting her head on her forearm as Frost parked up.

"Yeah well…" He stuttered. "I'm not gonna tell Maura anything ever again because I know it'll just come back to bite me on the ass," he said petulantly and left the car in a huff. Jane had to wipe the tears of laughter from her eyes, settling her tender abdomen before she got out of the car. She knew the reason Frost was sore was because he lost the bet.

"Hey..."

"What…" He grumped.

She stuffed her hand into her pocket and took out two twenties. "Close enough."

"Jane, I can't… Don't be stupid."

"Rich girlfriend," her eyes danced. She knew it would come out of her pocket anyway, and never Maura's. She knew she'd never be able to take any sort of money off the medical examiner, but Frost didn't need to know that. "Go on…" He paused, looking at her with confused eyes. "Let this be a lesson to you. No more betting about my marital status."

"Yes sir," he finally took the bills from her hand and stuffed them down his pants.

Jane's nose wrinkled.

"What? If chicks can do it down their bras, why can't guys put it in their pouch-"

"Hey! Ohh!" Jane stopped him there, her face grimacing in disgust. "Because you have pockets!"

"So do you!" He was confused.

"And since when did you see me take my cash out of my bra?" Where the hell was this conversation going? This is the one thing she loved about the job; winding Barry up until he looked like he was about to faint from confusion.

"Good point."

"You are ridiculous," she countered. "Come on… doofus." The black man grinned and once again, chased after her, not quite able to keep up with her long strides.

When they were in the empty classroom and had set up a temporary interrogation room, the mood had changed in a more professional manner. Jane sat down in front of Femke's closest friend, a young girl who's hands were shaking with both fear and grief. "When did you last speak with your friend, Poppy?"

Poppy Dale stared at the scary looking woman in front of her and placed her palms on the table to stop them from shaking. "Three days ago," she whispered. "She came over to my dorm and we studied."

"Did you speak to her at all last night?"

The young blonde shook her head with wide eyes. "Is she dead, ma'am? Can you at least tell me that?"

Jane sighed. "I'm afraid your friend was found dead at Boston Public Library, yes." She watched tears flood the young student's eyes. She couldn't have been more than 19. "Was she seeing anyone? Did you know if she knew a Henry Luton at all?"

Poppy nodded slowly. "I…No, she wasn't seeing anybody… or didn't tell me if she was," she fiddled with her hands. "But… but she did know Henry, they were friends."

"You weren't in Femke's class for English Literature, were you?"

"N-No," she shook her head. This was getting hard. She just wanted to go to bed and cry and never stop. "But she talked about him."

"And you're sure he wasn't her boyfriend," Frost asked gently.

She shook her head again. "I…I think he's gay."

"Do you know of anybody who didn't like your friend, Miss. Dale?"

Poppy's shoulders shook. "No… I… She didn't have many friends, but nobody hated her."

"Alright," Jane nodded. "You can go home now. We'll contact you if we need anything else, alright?" She watched the student nod again with scared wide eyes.

"I…I have to get to class." She stumbled and got up off her chair.

Jane looked at the dean of humanities in the corner of the room who gestured discreetly. "Go home," the detective stressed again. "I don't suppose your brain wants to do much work, huh?" Tears that had threatened to fall from the girl's eyes did just that and she nodded before hastily leaving the room. Jane coughed back a few tears and blinked, looking at Frost who covered her back with his hand. "She was the perfect student. I don't get it."

He sat down next to her. "We have three more friends of Henry's coming in, then we'll go talk to the teacher?"

Jane nodded. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she looked at a text from Maura.

_Your mother has officially talked my ear off._

Jane chuckled, sniffing a little to dry her eyes. _Where are you?_

_Whole Foods. Mia is also talking my ear off. Of course, as well as a 6 month old infant can manage with limited speech development. _

Jane rolled her eyes and quickly typed a reply. _Sorry to hear that. We've got no leads, still interviewing. Miss you. _

Maura looked up, watching Angela talk to herself as she ticked off some items off her shopping list. She turned back to her phone. I _miss you too, Jane. May I also remind you that there will be no further talking from you when your mother leaves tonight._

_Give me a little insight? _Jane grinned and felt her throat tighten in excitement.

_You'll just have to wait. _Maura chuckled, knowing that there would be a pout forming on her lover's lips in the next oh… three seconds.

_: (_

Maura closed her eyes, laughing out loud at this new turn in her life. It was all so strange. Good strange, but still strange.

"Are you alright?" Angela came over, concerned when she saw the doctor wiping tears from her eyes.

"Sure," Maura laughed, "Mia's facial expressions are just incredibly humorous." She blamed the baby, knowing it was highly inappropriate to announce that she had just been sexting her daughter. She'd learned that much from Jane. Angela squinted her eyes but nodded, noting the woman suddenly stash the phone back into her handbag.

Jane squawked when Frost snatched the iPhone from her scarred hands. "Come on, Jane."

"Alright, alright," She sighed and got up, finishing her coffee before following him to Luke Jacob's office, still attempting to steal her cell back with small huffs.

Again, they put their professional caps on when they entered the office, both detectives standing cordially before they were invited to take a seat in the chairs at the desk.

"Dean James told me to expect you." He said warily.

"I'm sure you know what this is about…" Jane replied, her façade exuding pseudo friendliness.

"Henry and Femke," he whispered.

"Yes." Frost nodded. "Your two best students."

"They were very quiet… passionate young people." He said in that same haunting tone.

Jane felt a little uncomfortable and crossed her legs. "Can you think of anybody who would want to hurt these two students, Mr. Jacobs?" Jane asked, sticking to protocol.

He took a long time to reply. "I can't think of anybody who resented their academic success," the blonde man shrugged. He wore thin framed spectacles, had a handsome angular face, and reminded Jane of the kind of guys Maura used to date. Before her. That sent a little shiver down the detective's spine. She hid the smirk and looked into the man's grey eyes.

"Where were you on the night of both your students' deaths, Luke? From 7-9pm " She watched him cringe at the use of his first name. Interesting…

"I was at home, with my wife."

"And she can vouch for that…"

"Of course," Luke nodded.

"Anything else? Any phone calls you made from your home phone?"

His mouth widened. "Am…Am I a suspect?"

Jane's eyes flashed. "Would you like to be?" She saw him half shake his head. "Answer the question, Mr. Jacobs."

"I…" He thought back. "I was just in my office…" He saw Jane nod insincerely. "Is.. I mean, I was on my computer…at home! Surely you can track that?"

Frost stayed quiet, trying to work this guy out. What was he hiding? "Unless you don't have a firm alibi, sir… we can't trace anything back."

Luke grumbled and shifted in his seat. "So…so you're saying that because my life is shitty, because I do nothing but sit and read at night? I have no firm alibi, that makes me worse off?"

He became angry. "I loved those kids. Femke…she had this brightness in her eyes. Like… I'd be reciting Proust and her eyes would come alive… and Henry… his papers were near perfect. I couldn't compete with them if I tried. Why on Earth would I hurt them?"

Jane stood up, having had enough of his grovelling. "That'll be all, sir." Giving him a glare, she watched his knuckles tighten over his seat. There was something more…so much more.

"We'll contact you further when we need to." He nodded and stood up to watch them leave.

"What do you think?" Jane asked as they finished up for the day, after around 36 interviews. "That Jacobs guy?"

"I'm gonna do a background check when we get back." Frost admitted. "Something weird going on. It's like he's innocent, but he's not."

Jane nodded, knowing exactly what her partner meant. "Something tells me this guy's a good actor."

When they got back to the precinct, it was already 5 o'clock.

_You still at work? _Jane's phone buzzed irritably in her pocket.

_Give me another hour and a half, I'm all yours. _She typed back hastily, occasionally looking over Frost's shoulder to see if he had a hit.

This time, the phone began to let out a ring and Jane picked it up on the second vibration. "What is it, Ma?"

"Maura said you're not coming home for another hour and a half!" Angela grouched.

"She probably also tried to explain that two people lost their lives to some psycho." Jane grumbled back. "Ma, I'll be there. I promise."

"You better be," the middle-aged woman warned. "This little girl's going home soon and I know you just wanna give her some smooches," she looked at Mia who was suckling from a spoon as Maura fed her patiently. The baby was sat in Maura's lap, a small towel draped over her front to avoid any mess. Maura smiled as Mia opened her mouth clumsily for the next small serving of strained carrots and peas. "You're missing a pretty sight here."

Jane groaned and thudded her head on the table. "I'll be there, Ma!"

"Hmmphh…" Came the wordless reply.

"And Mia doesn't want smooches from me," Jane sighed. "Get Maura to give her some."

"Hmm, that's not what Dr. Isles told me, Jane Rizzoli," the mother smiled, knowing she was truly winding her daughter up. "She says you're pretty good at giving baby smooches."

Frost turned around when he heard another pained groan, then watched Jane's head bang incessantly against her desk. "Ma, I gotta go… and tell Maura she's in a lot of trouble." She felt her cheeks flare with heat as Angela hung up, knowing her girlfriend had dished the dirt on the whole babysitting affair.

"I got nothing," Barry sighed, looking through as many records as he could find on the blonde man. Jane put her phone down and looked at the screen. "Luke Jacobs, born in Chickasha, Oklahoma… went to OU, got his teaching certificate…travelled around a little. Europe, mainly France, England… Norway. Then came to Boston… Went to grad-school, then got his PhD. The dude's smart."

"Exactly…"

Frost looked at her. "You really don't trust him…"

She shrugged. "A gut thing." Pointing at the screen, she whispered, "carry on."

"Married his college sweetheart in 2003, Donna Jacobs. He started teaching here at 2007. Very popular with the students, as we saw today…" Jane nodded. "And no motive whatsoever." He heard Jane growl.

"Come on…"

"What are we doing?" Frost stood up, frowning at Korsak who shrugged, still looking over the files on their weak suspect.

"We're gonna go find that 'alibi,'" She smiled. "I'm driving." She dragged her partner towards the doors before the door slammed shut again as they left.

Korsak chuckled to himself, watching the two detectives leave before patting the $50 now 'weighing' his front pocket down. "Good to have you back Rizzoli." He sighed, then looked at the computer once more.

Jane rapped her knuckles against the large door at the house registered to Dr. Luke Jacobs in Newton. A woman opened the door, approximately mid-thirties, looking at both detectives with an inquisitive glance. "Can I help you?"

"Mrs. Jacobs?"

"That's me," the woman nodded, looking a little unsure at what these people might have wanted.

"Detective Rizzoli, this is my partner Detective Frost." She pointed behind herself. "We have a few questions about your husband's whereabouts last night, at 7pm."

The woman blinked. "He was here," she said frowning. "Is something wrong?"

"Can you tell me what he was doing, Mrs. Jacobs?"

Donna peered at the badges tucked against both officer's waists and noted their authenticity. "He was reading in his study. It's all he does," she sighed. "Wh… Is something wrong?" She repeated.

Jane sighed. "Mrs. Jacobs we're currently investigating the deaths of two BCU students. Have you heard anything about the victims? Has Luke said anything to you? Anything at all?"  
>Donna's eyes widened and she held her mouth. "No…He… He's not back from work yet,… Should I tell him you came by?"<p>

"If you would, tell him we'll be contacting him in the morning" she nodded and turned her back, letting Frost follow her as she ambled back to the car with a heavy sigh. Annoyingly, it sounded genuine. Donna had said the same thing. Reading. Maybe he was reading? Maybe Jacobs was right all along… just because he had no technology to back himself up, albeit the odd email sent out, did that mean he had to be punished because he stuck to ink and paper?

oxoxoxoxoxo

Frost dropped Jane off outside and she waved a goodbye before getting into her own car. She sighed and looked at her phone, no new messages from Maura. Shrugging, she made the journey home, listening to Korsak rattling on about the case on her bluetooth. "Korsak…Korsak!"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have anything relevant to tell me?" She sighed.

"Ummm…no, that's the thing. The parents are coming over from Aruba… it's a long shot but they might know something."

"And Henry didn't have a boyfriend."

"Nope," Vince shook his head. "Single… a dating profile not showing anything... no messages sent out or in. Guy was a loner. We're getting BCU to let us into their emails but it's taking a while to get them to."

"Why?" Jane frowned.

"Data protection," he rolled his eyes. "We're working on it."

"'Kay," she mumbled, pulling up outside the house. She grabbed the crate of beer that she'd managed to pick up on the way, knowing they were running out. "Just tell us if you hear anything," she said.

"Will do," he typed a few other things into the computer and hung up the phone, knowing tonight would be a long night, just like the one before.

Jane turned the key in the door to her new house and walked into the lobby where she was greeted by Joe Friday who was whirling around her legs in hasty circles. She picked her up and wandered into the living room where Maura was just settling down to a glass of wine, sipping slowly as she watched Angela cook. "Hey," Jane greeted with a smile as she sat down next to both Maura, and the baby who was wrapped in her arms. She leaned forward and kissed her gently, then pulled back, looking at her mother who was still pottering around in the kitchen. "I thought I was like extra late or something."

"Fifteen minutes late.. But she still hasn't served up," Maura smiled, lifting the child up and resettled her against her chest. Jane grinned back and pecked Maura on the head before walking into the kitchen.

"Need a hand, Ma?" Angela had to do a double take.

"What did you say, Janie?"

"I said do you need a hand?" Jane frowned.

"Set the table," her mother nodded with a grin, acting as if she'd just witnessed the most natural thing. Jane huffed and grabbed the plates, before putting them on the table as neatly as she could. Mia was getting very fussy and Maura stood with her, swaying the baby gently around the room. Her arms reached out for Jane and the brunette froze.

"Want her?" Maura asked, holding the little girl up against her chest. "She's bored of me…"

Jane pointed with her eyes and hissed quietly. "Grandchildren…hassling, Need I say anymore?" Mia began to cry, reaching out for Jane with a red face.

"Jane, she wants you…Just take her," Maura sighed. "I'll fend off the comments." she tried to be as discreet as one could yelling over a now screaming infant. Jane sighed and pulled Mia away, swinging her gently until the child settled in her arms, plopping her tired head on the detective's shoulder.

"Now you owe me," Jane whispered, but was merely answered to a gentle pat on the ass. "And you also get to do the laundry…this thing is gonna be soaked with drool in the space of five minutes," Jane looked down at her shirt and sighed. She couldn't help but listen to the small murmurs of happiness from the baby.

They were brought out of their musings when they heard a clatter from the kitchen. Turning, Jane felt the baby flinch, then calm down and looked at Angela who had dropped the bowl of tagliolini. The image of her daughter soothing a baby caught her by surprise and strands of pasta were decorated around the room. Maura's eyes widened. "Are you okay?"

"I…I'm fine," the older woman nodded, brushing herself down. "I must have left the bowl too close to the stove," she said. Maura nodded and picked the…stone-cold steel bowl from the floor. Maybe passing Mia to Jane wasn't the best idea after all. After rescuing what was left of the thick pasta, Maura and Angela managed to dish up the carbonara, a firm favorite of Jane's while the detective put Mia into her bouncer and sat at the table, using her foot to gently bounce the spring seat up and down. She handed the infant a breadstick and cautiously watched the child gnaw on it with her chubby little fingers. When she saw Mia was safe, she speared a thick slice of bacon, ate it and sighed.

"Ma… I gotta tell you something."

_And there it is_. Angela tried not to laugh and politely put her fork down, hoping that the atmosphere would clear once Jane came out. "What is it, honey?"

Maura peered at Jane with interest and gently slid her foot up Jane's calf, half to arouse her, the rest to encourage her. The detective closed her eyes. "I'm in love with Maura, Ma."

There was silence for a long while and Angela let out a little giggle. "I know, baby."

Jane's eyes snapped open. "What?"

"Maura told me you were together when you were angry I went on a date."

"You told?" Jane couldn't keep the hurt from her voice and Maura had to look away at the disappointed eyes looking back at her.

"I…Well, I didn't think it was a secret. Was it?" Maura whispered back, putting a hand on her girlfriend's.

Jane shrugged and pulled her hand away from under the one covering hers.

"Just wanted to have a little control I guess." She stood up and looked down at her food. "I'm not hungry anymore…"

Maura stood up. "Do you feel nauseous?"

"No…" The woman grumbled. "Just lost my appetite." She left the room swiftly and went to sit on their bed, wrapping herself in the covers before she let the mega pout emerge on her face.

Maura sighed and attempted to carry on eating, but her heart felt heavy and her chest felt tight. She didn't exactly know the scientific reasoning behind this… Why would Jane being grumpy cause such intense anxiety? "Excuse me for a second?"

"Go ahead, sweetie," Angela nodded. "Oh…. And Maura?"

"Yeah?" Maura turned, repositioning her skirt.

"Bring the baby… she's turning into a softy." Angela's eyes brimmed with tears and Maura smiled, scooping Mia out of her bouncer.

"Jane?" Maura knocked the door and opened it gently. "Hey…" She held Mia against her hip and approached the bed hesitantly before sitting down on the bare mattress, most of the covers now wrapped around Jane's body in a nest of bedding. Jane didn't look at her, but played with Mia's little foot as the baby babbled at both of them.

"I'm sorry," the blonde whispered to the sulking woman.

"It was the one thing I wanted to do tonight…" Jane replied evenly. "I just wanted to say how much I loved you. To my own mother…"

"Then you could have told me! Or warned me," Maura stressed, her voice staying quiet. Jane huffed and let Mia crawl up towards her. "Honey, I'm sorry okay? But she doesn't care. She knew before I told her."

"She did?" Jane was shocked and the doctor found it adorable.

Maura smiled and shuffled up the bed. "Sweetie, when you were under, she asked me if I loved you. And I said yes. You moving in with me just told her that we were working stuff out."

"She knew…" Jane repeated and worked it around her head. "And she's okay?"

"Quite happy," Maura smiled. "I'm also suffering a small contusion to the shoulder. Her hugs are particularly hard."

Jane let a shy smile and pulled down Maura's blouse to see reddening around her bra strap. "Heh, yep! you got Rizzoli'd." Maura just smiled back and closed her eyes before pulling the woman in for a gentle kiss. She smiled and felt Jane slowly reciprocate before pulling back, her lips tingling.

"Are you really not hungry?"

"I could handle a cannoli" Jane scowled still. "And I want lots of kisses tonight."

Maura smirked and bent down to kiss Jane's cheek. "Many," another kiss, this time on her lips. "Many… many kisses."

"Okay." Jane got out of her nest and watched as Maura picked Mia back up before they entered the dining room.

Angela had been waiting anxiously and saw two shy eyes poke out of the hoody that Jane had self-consciously put on. She stood up, and watched as Jane shuffled towards her mother, walking into her arms. It was a rare occasion, usually if Jane was upset, or hurt. This was a hug of gratitude and for Angela it was a hug of acceptance. The older woman held down the sob and kissed the top of her daughter's head as well as she could in spite of the height difference.

"I just want you to be happy, you know that?" Angela asked, her voice breaking, and the detective nodded against her shoulder. "Good… now finish your dinner." The woman patted her child's side and Jane snorted, sitting back down before she took a bite out of her leftover food with a gentle huff.

Maura shared a look with Angela and smiled, sitting back down with the baby in her arms. After three cannolis had been successfully eaten by the 'not hungry' Jane, the doorbell sounded out around the house. Maura sighed and had to face facts that they were coming to the end of the game - playing house with her girlfriend, at least for a while…


	5. Chapter 5 bonus

Author's Note: So this one's a little bonus chapter because I thought both you and I deserved it. It's smut, yes... but I hope I dealt with first time sex in a sensitive way. A lot of people write Rizzles first sex scenes as explosive, and that both of them immediately knew what to do. Even a gay girl can be a bit 'wtf,' for their first time, so Jane is no exception. **Rated M for sexual situations and language. **Enjoy and please review.

oxoxoxo

Jane sighed and got up to answer the door. She peered through the peephole and saw a woman waiting patiently, looking around at the smart cars on Maura's drive. Her drive. Jane shook her head. She had to work that thought round a little more until she got used to it. Smirking, she opened the door to see a young attractive woman in business clothes. "Hi, you must be Jamie."

The brunette smiled, deep green eyes looking relieved. "Yes… Are you Jane?"

"Can't you tell?" Jane grinned and Jamie gave a shy nod.

"Yes, actually…" The businesswoman looked like she couldn't have been more than 25 and she was distractedly looking into the house.

"Here, I'll put you out of your misery," Jane smiled and walked over to the crib where Mia was playing with a soft plush rattle. "Come here, you," she scooped the baby up and smiled when the infant's face brightened as soon as her eyes focused on her mother.

"Hey there sweetpea," Jamie was trying not to cry as she held the child. Mia immediately pressed her head against her mother's chest, curling up her legs for more cuddles. "Was she good?"

"Best baby ever," Jane smiled. "Weren't you?" She touched Mia's little fingers with her own long finger and smiled as the infant babbled quietly into her mother's neck. "I hope you weren't too concerned about us taking her for the night. My mother had no choice." Jane held in the snort that automatically came with that statement.

Jamie smiled. "No, it's fine… a cop and a doctor? I can't really say no to that now can I?" It seemed Jamie knew that she and Maura were a couple before even they knew they were. She looked at the dog on the floor who was wagging her tail excitedly at the newcomer. "You have kids?"

Jane frowned. "Me?" She realized Jamie was being serious and spluttered. "No… No! Oh god no…" She shook her head frantically. "No…"

"Okay…" The young mother was a little confused at the outburst and nodded. "Well anyway… I better get this little one home." She nuzzled her child's hair with a soft smile. "And I can not wait to get out of these damn clothes."

"I know the feeling." Jane smiled.

"No you don't," came the little chirp from Maura who was busy tidying.

Jane laughed, rolling her eyes. "And so continues the everlasting argument of 'stop wearing your work clothes to bed.'" Jamie smiled patiently. Jane realized the young woman just wanted to leave and she gestured to wait a second. Finding a pen, and digging into Maura's purse, she pulled out her girlfriend's business card and jotted her own number down. "Here… should you need us again."

Jamie looked like she was about to collapse from relief. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Jane grinned. "You've got a little heartbreaker there."

"And she knows it," Jamie grinned, swaying gently as her little girl began to fall asleep, busying herself by sucking on her tiny fist. "Thank you again."

"No problem," Jane nodded and jumped when she felt arms wrap around her waist as Maura poked her head round her lover's back.

"Hi…"

"You must be Maura," the other woman giggled slightly. "Nice to finally meet you."

"You too…" Maura nodded, smiling when she felt Jane sink further into her arms.

"Anyway, I better go." The young woman got a little uncomfortable and gratefully accepted Angela's help as the elder Rizzoli offered to help bring things to the car.

When they were gone, Jane quickly turned in Maura's arms and looked at the confused eyes twinkling back at her. "You went through my bag and gave her something…"

"Yes, yes I did…" Jane swayed them gently. "I gave her my number. And I needed paper."

"Why?" Maura frowned, a flash of jealousy overcoming her face.

Jane snorted and bent down to nuzzle Maura's forehead with her nose. "For a woman as bright as you are, you can be awfully stupid sometimes," Jane pecked Maura's frown, attempting to smoothen it. "Sweetie," she rolled her eyes. "I gave her my number and yours so if she ever gets stuck again we can look after Mia."

"You did?" Now the wrinkles moved to Maura's nose in a crinkle. "Really?"

"Yep," Jane smiled. "I liked this." Maura smiled back, her thumb stroking over Jane's cheeks. She leaned forward and kissed the brunette hotly.

Taken aback, Jane's eyes closed and she tightened her hold against Maura's waist, then up her spine. She pulled at Maura's bra strap teasingly. "Am…Am I still in a lot of trouble?" Maura asked, panting. It was as if she could still feel Jane's tongue against hers and she put a hand against her chest to steady herself.

"Lots…and lots of trouble." Jane flirted. She grabbed hold of Maura's waistband and pulled the belt loop of the blonde's skirt until Maura was in her arms again.

Maura sighed, accepting her fate. She wrapped her arms around Jane's strong shoulders and felt Jane close the distance before they kissed again, this time a little more frantically. "Tell… your…mother to…go," Maura gasped in between busses.

Angela's eyes widened when she heard and saw what her daughter was doing. She yelled out and covered her eyes and trying not to peer through her fingers when she entered the front door again. "I'm going…I'm going!" Angela didn't think she would ever see two people separate from each other so fast, but here it was. She chuckled at the blushes that were crawling up both chests. "Going…" She grabbed her bag, gave each woman a kiss on the cheek and hastily left the townhouse.

Jane turned to Maura with her mouth open. She shook her head, unable to talk and flopped down on the couch. "That didn't happen."

Maura sighed and sat down with her. "I suppose it's better than if you had your hand up my skirt."

"I nearly did," Jane chuckled. She felt Maura's head rest on her shoulder and moved her arm until it was wrapped firmly around the doctor's back.

"You still want to?" Maura smiled, licking at Jane's neck before sucking gently.

Jane groaned and spaced herself. She nodded slowly, looking at the blonde with shy eyes. Wordlessly, Maura stood up and took the brunette's hand in hers. She patted it gently, then pulled until Jane understood and stood up by herself. The walk to the bedroom was excruciating. It was Maura who sat on the bed first, followed by a shaky Jane who's legs were threatening to buckle. "Maura… I, I really do not know what I'm doing." She said it with great finality.

Maura sighed and looked at the two hands on her chest, pushing her away. "What do you mean?"

"As in hello? I'm straight. I don't sleep with women," her voice still held the husk that betrayed her desire. Maura quirked an eyebrow, then frowned.

"I don't fully understand, you're attracted to me, aren't you?" she said slowly.

"Yes but... I don't know what to do," Jane stressed, feeling a little panicked.

"Don't you masturbate?" The green eyes in front of her blinked innocently. Jane squirmed, crossing her legs on the bed.

"I'm not even gonna answer that," the brunette grumbled.

"I'll take that as a yes," Maura smiled gently and leaned forward to kiss her girlfriend's lips. Jane moaned into them and started to reciprocate until she pulled back. "Then do what you do to yourself… do that to me."

"Oh god…" Jane felt Maura hold her hands a little more firmly. She giggled slightly. "See… Usually, if I'm with a guy, I just… lie there. Or sit there…" She covered her face with another chuckle. "I can't fucking believe we're talking about this."

Maura tried a different strategy. She lay down and patted the space next to her. Jane tugged off her boots and her socks, then did the same, staring at the soft eyes in front of her. "Hi…"  
>Maura smiled and pulled the brunette forward for a kiss, wrapping one arm around Jane's neck. It was slow, at first… but desire won after a good few minutes after Jane became more acquainted to her girlfriend's lips and chin. Maura pulled back for a breath but Jane shook her head frantically and straddled the blonde, her knees resting either side of Maura's ribs as she probed at Maura's lips with her tongue. She tugged at the doctor's blouse, her fingers slowly picking the buttons free. "Maura…"<p>

"Yeah…"

"I dunno… I don't-" She was cut off with a hard kiss as Maura sat up hastily, Jane now sat in her lap.

"Do whatever you want." Maura gripped each shoulder. "Do whatever you feel like doing, Jane… I'm yours." The words rung around in Jane's head as if someone had chimed the Liberty Bell over her head. Jane took a few settling breaths and pushed Maura down hastily and attacked the medical examiner's mouth with her own. Maura tried not to smile and soon the would-have-been smirk turned into a hot grimace, her lips parting to release a moan when she heard the last of her buttons ping off her blouse.

"I would say I'm sorry, but I'm really not," Jane mumbled into the woman's cleavage. She felt Maura arch her back and figured she was doing something right when she felt desperate hands grip at her ass.

They moved together, kissing and licking until Maura tugged the woman's t-shirt off. "Fuck…"

Jane pulled back in shock. "Did you just swear?"

"I talk dirty in bed, Jane. Get over it." Maura smiled. "The practice of graphic words and imagery during sexual intercourse heightens sensations."

Jane kissed the dark blonde haired woman to stop her. "I know…that's why people do it."

"Does it bother you?" Maura asked meekly, realizing she cared more about Jane's feelings than she would have if it were someone else. In answer, Jane began to slowly trail her hand up Maura's skirt, feeling a bare thigh in her hand. She squeezed, then went further up. She reached what felt like panties and tried not to freeze. "Oh shit, Jane…" Fingers halted against the silk but Jane finally laughed and kissed against Maura's neck.

"What does that tell you?" The detective husked.

"Mmm… I don't exactly know, but keep going, that's good," Maura's demanding hand grabbed Jane's arm and pushed it further. Jane gulped and realized she needed distracting. Helpfully, Maura reached back and unclipped her bra, releasing her breasts from their confinement. The cop moaned at the sight and suddenly her own pants were causing too much pressure. So this was why guys got so flustered. She growled and undid the button to her fly before ripping the trousers off her legs and throwing the dark jeans over to the other end of the room.

Maura grinned as the woman settled back in her arms, their lips connecting once more. She felt impatient hands hike up her skirt and let Jane do exactly what she wanted. Thighs tangled together and the detective lifted herself up, holding herself up with her left arm, wanting to pay attention to Maura's breasts. She bent down suddenly and took a cherry blossom colored nipple into her mouth. Dancing eyes looked up at Maura and the blonde felt proud at the sudden boost of confidence in Jane's attitude.

A loud moan suddenly escaped her when she felt a hard suck. Looking down, she gripped Jane's head in her hands and saw those same eyes, peering at her with both fascination and mirth. Jane sucked again, harder this time almost determined to leave a bruise. She let go, and they began to kiss again when finally Maura reached down, unbuttoned her skirt and pulled both it, and the panties off in one quick tug. She was now naked, and lying underneath Jane Rizzoli caused her heart to beat rapidly in her chest. Reaching up, she began to stroke Jane's face, trying to clear the fear from her eyes.

"You've done this before… Haven't you?" Jane asked, her nostrils flaring slightly with jealousy.

Maura whispered. "I went to college, Jane.. I got drunk sometimes…"

The brunette's mouth widened. "I thought that was a cliché?" Maura shrugged with a giggle.

"Oooh, Maura getting girly sex in college," Jane warbled and received a playful slap to her ass. She looked up to dark, wide pupils.

"Fuck me, Jane… no more talking." Maura slowly brought Jane's hands into her own and guided the inquisitive fingers to her sex, skipping past trimmed hair. Jane's eyes widened when she felt wetness greet her fingertips and she held in a gasp.

"I…Uhh…" The cop halted and played with the new but familiar texture in her hands. Curls… slickness, heat. Maura pulled Jane down for a long kiss.

"I love you," the blonde murmured and Jane blinked herself out of her reverie. She entered her girlfriend quickly, happily covering Maura's mouth with her own to drown out the long whine. She felt a long suck on her tongue and groaned, suddenly straddling the woman's thigh.

"I… I love you too," she groaned, and thrusted, finally finding her confidence. "Heh… weird."

"Shh," Maura laughed, then felt her lover's fingers move. _That__'__s my girl,_ She smiled to herself, and once again, felt her face contort into a grimace as she felt the pleasure soar through her body. Jane had begun to thrust hard against her thigh, and the women moved together, their speed picking up the more sensations they felt. They rocked together, panting and gasping. Their mouths crashed together clumsily but they didn't care.

This was the kind of love-making both women cherished, and for Jane, the sound of Maura's moaning made her think she was pretty good at this. Maybe Maura had been right… Maybe she just didn't know who or where she was supposed to be having sex.

Maura's hips smacked into her hand and as they sped up, Jane bucked faster on the toned thigh.  
>In all honesty, Jane had never felt like this during sex. Never. Sometimes men would hit the right spot, and then suddenly trail off. Here she had the upper hand, and she knew what she was doing. She did know. It was like a dark primitive urge. Rub here, thrust there. And it completely worked.<p>

Sweat dripped off both of their bodies and Jane had to tear away from Maura's shoulder, her body slanted, when she felt her nipple being taken between teeth. Maura tugged and Jane yelled, rubbing herself harder, thrusting into her girlfriend faster with two fingers, a thumb on the now hard bundle of nerves between Maura's legs.

It took Maura by surprise, but she felt the warm pressure settle deep inside her, then cried out around Jane's breast as she convulsed. "Oh god… " she moaned out, her pants lessened, but Jane carried on until she too finally collapsed down onto Maura's chest, groaning in defeat when her orgasm slammed through her.

Suddenly, after a moment of silence, Jane heard Maura chuckling. She immediately lifted her head and peered at the experienced doctor with worry evident in her eyes. "Did I… was it wrong?"

Maura hushed her, shaking her head with a gentle sobbing laugh. She covered Jane's lips with her thumb and smiled. "I just can't believe that a virgin gave me the best sex I've ever had."

"I'm not a virgin," Jane grumbled and snuggled closer, feeling completely embarrassed.

"I don't care if you are or not," Maura sighed. "I think I'll keep you." She looked at the ceiling as Jane finally rolled off and they both shared a quiet moment, contemplating what had just happened. "Wow…"

Jane continued to stare at the intricate brushstrokes of the paintwork above her. She jumped when Maura's hand slipped into hers and that was when she lost it. Maura heard the sob and opened her arms, then Jane crawled into them and she nuzzled the pale breasts gently, letting out the tears of cooped up frustration coupled with relief.

"This is crazy," Jane whispered when she was finally able to talk.

"I like crazy. I am one." Maura whispered and kissed Jane's head. The brunette's head popped up when she felt kisses dotting around her torso before moving further down.

"M-Maura…"

"Yes," the blonde muttered as she swirled her tongue around a mole just below her belly button.

"What… are.. .you doing?" She panted, attempting to push Maura's head away. "I don't like that…"

The doctor sighed and rested her chin on Jane's hipbone. "Do you trust me?"

"Always," Jane's voice broke, "But-" She cut herself off with her own long groan as Maura tasted her, pulling up the bedding slightly to cover her own head. "Oh my fucking god," the brunette's hips left the bed but Maura held her tight. After a few licks the blonde pulled away.

"Still don't like it-" Maura's question was muffled as Jane frantically pressed her head against her. Maura grinned and the two continued to "accidentally" make love until the sun started to shine through the light blinds. Both women shuffled hastily into their sleeping positions, knowing they now only had three hours of sleep before they needed to get up for work.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey folks! This is the last chapter of the story, I hope you all enjoyed the ride. I certainly did. There will be a next episode, so those of it who are following, don't worry. I am however going travelling on Sunday, first to Amsterdam to visit family, (I will have internet access) and then to Morocco. So there'll be a short break, but you will get your stories.

Again, I don't own Rizzoli and Isles. I'm not writing for profit, though as it's technically therapy for me, I'm using that as profit.

xoxoxoxox

"Jane."

The detective swore she heard her name and then gave the breast in her hand a quick clench. "Jane…"

Suddenly she felt herself thrown further into the bed as Maura disengaged.

"What?" Jane crawled up the mattress and found her pillow, this one made of cotton and not skin and flesh.

"We are late," Maura pulled out a pair of briefs and shrugged them up her legs, wincing a little in pain. She had never had sex so much in one night, and to say she was sensitive was an understatement. "We are so, so late."

"Late?" Jane sat up, smacking her lips as she cautiously opened her eyes. Peering blearily at the time she felt the panic rise in her chest. "Shit! Shit…shit shit shit." Hopping out of bed as fast as she could, the brunette pulled on a pair of boxers, then a clean pair of jeans. "Owww!"

"I know," Maura sighed and ran a brush through her hair. "I'm the same." She sighed at Jane's unruly hair. "Here…"

"No… no," Jane shook her head and threaded her fingers through the her locks. "This'll have to do. Brush just makes me look like Brian May."

Maura smiled and they quickly got their things together, brushing their teeth and making quick toilet stops before making their way to work. Jane opened the door to her car and Maura hopped in, holding in the moan of pain as she sat down too quick. Jane followed and both women had to take a breath as they got accustomed to their sore aching bodies.

"Oww…"

"You said it," Jane sighed and shook her head. "Alright… let's face the music."

Half an hour later and both women casually walked into the building, Maura hastily disappearing so that nobody would make a comment about their unruly state of appearance at security. Jane slunk into the elevator joining her girlfriend and sighed. She leaned over and gave Maura a kiss before pulling away. "This is gonna be weird."

"I know," Maura said quietly. "We'll be okay though. It'll be okay."

"Goes without saying," Jane smiled and rubbed the palm in her hands with a thumb. "And despite the fact that I am so sore right now, and probably don't want sex for a long long while, last night was awesome."

Now Maura smiled brightly and leaned against her. "I agree."

"Good…" Jane kissed her again. "Just wanted you to know that. Because I'm gonna be whining all day." Maura grinned, then blinked when she saw that the elevator door had opened and Korsak and Frost were stood gawping.

"Gentlemen," she greeted them, walking away before she finally let the blush crawl up from her chest. Jane watched her leave and finally brought her eyes up to her colleagues.

"You are so so late," Frost warned. "Cavanaugh is snooping."

"Just what I need," Jane sighed and followed them to the bullpen. "We're an hour late."

"No, Jane… you, you're an hour and a half late." Korsak said. "Maura isn't, she's the chief M.E, she makes the rules. You on the other hand…"

"Alright, alright," she grumbled. "Maybe he'll let me off if I solve this thing," she sat down and started up her computer, tapping in her password before letting the Mac do the rest of the work for her.

"Good night last night, Rizzoli?" Korsak poked when things had settled down as he noticed her squirm in her chair.

"Shut up," she grumbled and rubbed her eyes. So she'd had three and a half hours sleep. She could deal with that. "Hey… hey, I've got something."

"What is it?" Frost swung his chair over towards Jane's desk.

"Beat you for once," she said smugly. "Emails… lots and lots of emails. BCU released them overnight." On the open window where dozens of emails to and from Femke Timmermans and Henry Luton. "Shit, look at this…" She pointed to one email to Luke Jacobs;

_Luke, are we still on for tomorrow? Best, Femke. _Jane clicked the next email hastily.

_Meet me at Flat Black, 3pm. See you soon, Luke. _

Frost sat back and blinked. "They were having an affair…"

Jane winced, not entirely sure. She could smell Maura before she heard or saw her. The doctor sat behind her, a gentle hand on her back. "We've found something…" She said distractedly and carried on looking at the computer. "Here look…" She dug out Henry's emails.

_Henry, Femke and I have agreed, 3pm at Flat Black.. Hope to see you there, Luke. _

"A threesome?" Frost's eyes squinted.

Maura laughed. "Sex on the brain, Barry?" He gulped and looked down. "Whatever it was, he's hiding something. Wonder what it is?"

Jane hummed, trying to figure things out. "Only one way to find out," she stood up hastily and grabbed her jacket. "Let's go Frost…" She turned and gave Maura a peck on the lips, pulling away less shakily this time. "See you in a bit." Maura nodded and sat back down in Jane's chair, looking over the emails.

Jane barged into Dr. Jacob's office with Frost behind her. "Afternoon, Lukey." She grinned and he sat up in his chair, putting down a student's paper.

"Afternoon, Detective Rizzoli…what can I do for you?" He asked, the same faux friendliness in his inflection, matching Jane's.

She plopped down into the chair in front of his desk and leaned forward, crossing her fingers under her chin. "What were you doing four days ago in Flat Black with Henry and Femke?"

"I went for a late lunch, we discussed some literature, some Poe, some Conan Doyle."

"Is that so?" Jane smirked. "And why those two? What made them so special?"

"They were my friends," the man said quietly. Jane saw sorrow in his eyes.

"Why. Them. Two?" She asked again and he looked up at them. "Were you sleeping with the both of them, Luke?"

"What? No!" He shook his head in slight disgust, "Listen, who do you think I am? Some freak who pounces on his best students then kills them? You've got the wrong man. I told you before, detective. I would not hurt them."

Still no leads. Jane sighed and her phone buzzed. _We__'__ve got a warrant for Luke Jacobs__'__ house. _Jane showed Frost the text and tapped in a reply.

_We'll be right there. No leads, no evidence, can__'__t work this guy out. _

She sighed and looked at him. "Even if you are innocent, you understand that withholding any evidence you know will put you through a lot more trouble than you could even imagine."

"Look, I've told you everything I know. I was friends with them yes, they were good kids, and they needed someone to talk to. They had hardly any friends, and I had a lot in common with them. Why don't you believe me?"

"Because you've got a guilty look on your face," Jane snarled. "And right now, despite the fact my gut's begging for breakfast, it's also screaming that something's not quite right with you. What about your wife?"

"What about her?" Luke frowned.

"How did she like it when you went for lunch with these two students. Was she pissed?"

"She didn't know…" He mumbled.

"So you were treating it like an affair." Jane asked as Frost typed a message to Korsak.

_Do a background check on Donna Jacobs. She didn__'__t know that her husband was seeing these two for friendly lunches. Could have found out? _

_On it. _Korsak replied.

"It wasn't an affair." He insisted.

"Alright," for once she soothed him and stood. "That'll be all… for now."

He nodded, gulping slightly. They seemed to be going nowhere with this guy, he was too defensive. So it was time for the evidence.

At the bullpen half an hour later, Korsak greeted them with a worried stare. "Donna Jacobs… maiden name Heynes. Suffered three miscarriages in the passed five years. An attempted suicide in 2008. I think we got our perp."

"Shit," Jane growled. "So she's not well."

"Not at all…" Korsak sighed. "Here's the warrant."

Jane handed it to Frost and nodded. "We'll be careful," she answered the statement before Korsak even had a chance to speak and slapped his back. Soon they were away, travelling back to Newton.

Jane got out of the car and grabbed the holster of her gun, then slipped the weapon into her hand. Frost patted her gently and she turned, then put the gun back when she saw a car pull up in the drive way. Donna Jacobs' thin frame eased out of the car and looked at them with an enquiring stare. "Can I help you folks?"

Jane's eyes slitted. They still didn't have anything firm. "We have a search warrant, Mrs. Jacobs. We need access to the house.

"Of course… Apologies, I was just dropping some lunch off for my husband, come in." She said politely and Jane nodded.

"Get back up," Jane hissed to Frost who quickly turned and muttered down his phone. They entered the house, books everywhere. Literally… every single space on the shelves full of them. They questioned the woman a little more, trying to push any buttons that they could, but she wasn't budging. She acted completely normal. Keeping an eye on Donna, she searched in the kitchen, finding things clear before moving upstairs.

Maura arrived at BCU in a matter of minutes after hearing there had been another homicide. Corridors were quickly bordered off and she entered the room where various forensic investigators crowded. Maura entered and saw the name on the door. Dr. Luke Jacobs. His body was slumped in his chair, his throat slit. A box sat in front of the desk. Jacobs' ears inside. Ears…a noose, and a missing thumb. "Fuck… fuck," her shaky hands got up Jane's number on speed dial. "Sweetie."

"Hey… can't talk right now, at Jacobs' house."

"Get out of the house," Maura's voice shook. "Just...get out of that house."

"Where are you?" Jane traced her fingers around several detective novels on one of the bookshelves in Luke's bedroom.

"I'm at BCU, she's killed Luke Jacobs, honey…get out of that damn house, now." Maura growled, her back turning from the scene. "This woman isn't of a sound mind. And she's seemingly obsessed with Sherlock Holmes cases."

Jane rolled her eyes, finally seeing the strangeness of the deaths. "Don't worry about me, I'll get her. See you later."

"Jan-" Maura was cut off by the dial tone and shook her head, trying not to scream knowing her girlfriend had hung up on her.

Jane took the gun out of her holster once more. She dashed down the stairs to see Donna rifling through her kitchen drawers. "Mrs. Jacobs," she aimed the gun with Frost closely at her heels. "put your hands above your head." Donna froze, a sad smile covering her face. "You weren't giving your husband lunch, were you? You killed him, and you killed Femke and Henry, didn't you?" She watched as the woman slowly began to put up her hands. She nodded at an excruciatingly slow speed.

"He…He lied to me," the woman sniffed. "I tried so hard… I wanted those babies so bad, and he went away and he lied to me. He wanted them more than me."

Jane sighed. "Put your hands on the counter, head down on the surface for me, Mrs. Jacobs. We'll get you help." Tears flooded the distressed woman's face and she did as was asked, her shoulders shaking.

Jane nodded to Frost and they approached.

Just as Jane reached her, about to hold her down, Donna pulled a gun from out of her pocket and shot herself squarely in the head. The counter was splattered with blood and the troubled woman's eyes glazed over. Just like that…bang. Gone. Jane stood in shock, unable to move. All memories of shooting herself in the gut to kill Bobby had come back to haunt her in a flash flood of sensation. The handcuffs dangled from her fingers until they clattered to the floor.

Jane's eyes blurred when she looked down to see her own v-neck tee and blazer covered in blood. Donna's blood. Dark, red, warm blood. She felt a shake to her arm.

"Jane?"

The brunette blinked. "Jane…hey, it's okay." Frost pulled her away. "Jane…"

Jane's eyes finally turned to her friend's face and she looked at him fuzzily. The gunshot still echoed around her mind and her thoughts were noisy and muddled. "Shit…" She tore away from the man, wiping her eyes.

"It's over…" Frost promised.

Jane shook her head. "It'll never be over…" She looked at him angrily, "It'll never go away. We'll always have these poor people who are sick and I just… I wasn't quick enough."

"You were," he said sadly, the house now deathly quiet. "You were… she did as you said. She did everything you told her to do. She would have finished it as soon as she could have. Even if you did arrest her. If you were too quick, you might have killed her anyway." He rubbed her back.

"Shit…" Jane rubbed her palms and walked away from the scene as she called it into headquarters. When she hung up, she saw an incoming call and picked it up.

"Jane…"

"She shot herself, Maur… Right in front of me. " The husky voice broke and Jane swiped her face with her forearm irritably as an ambulance whirled down the street.

"Oh honey…" Maura sighed, hearing the hurt in her girlfriend's voice. "They've just taken Jacobs to the morgue."

"He was innocent. I think my gut's broken, Maura." Jane sniffled with a laugh.

"It's not broken…" Maura sighed with a bittersweet smile. "It's just a little damaged. And gut instinct doesn't exist anyway. At Cambridge university they conducted a test; surprisingly those who went more strongly with their gut feelings and used intuitive decision making were just people who were interestingly more aware of their own heartbeat. It's all about physiology."

"Why do I even miss you right now?" Jane sighed with a groan.

Maura chuckled, half winding her lover up. "I don't know whether to be insulted or not. I know you're sore, as am I, but would you appreciate a hug when I see you next?"

Jane closed her eyes. "I would love one."

"Okay," Maura smiled. "I'll see you in a little while."

Jane nodded hanging up, her hands and legs still shaking from the adrenaline rush. She watched as EMTs carried the body out of the house and saw Frost approach with a sympathetic look.

"You okay, Rizzoli?"

"Yeah," she snorted, holding her hands. "Shook me up."

"Was close," he nodded. "Hands hurting?"

"Tingling," the brunette replied. "Can you drive?"

"Sure," he nodded and they silently made their way back to Boston Police Department.

Jane feet worked automatically and she took the stairs down to the basement. Waving at Maura through the mirror of the crime lab, she gestured to the doctor's office and watched the blonde nod.

In ten minutes, Maura took a break and opened the door of her office to see the Jane curled up on the couch in the corner of the room. "Oh sweetie…"

Jane was silent and she let Maura lift her head, before the doctor slipped herself underneath. Jane buried herself in Maura's lap, letting the brunette wipe her wet face. "This world is so fucked up."

Maura nodded, her hands working constantly to clear the permanent stream of tears rolling down Jane's cheeks. She held the detective for a long while who let out small strangled sobs. It took an even longer time for the woman to stop crying.

"You sure you're okay? I umm… I've never seen you so upset from a case like this. Well… I have, but not one that wasn't personal."

Jane sniffed and looked up at the woman's face. "You've never seen it because I never let it out. Only when you're asleep." She saw Maura's lips thin. "What I don't understand is why Luke Jacobs would let his wife suffer like that. She was clinically depressed, and she hadn't been to her MD in 10 months. Maur…"

"I know, I know…" Maura rubbed her belly softly. "Hey…"

Jane looked up at her face, squinting slightly from the light on the ceiling. "Yeah…"

"Go get some snacks from the vending machine… I'm gonna finish up these autopsies and then we're going to the movies."

Jane's breath halted. "I uhh… I'm not sure I wanna have that much company," she said gently. "200 people… not so much fun."

"Then we'll bring the movies to us." Maura smiled, stroking through Jane's clammy hair.

"Can we get popcorn?"

Maura nodded, her lips spreading into a smile. "Whatever you want."

They broke away when a throat was cleared at Maura's office door. Korsak stood, leaning heavily against the frame. Jane spluttered and wiped her face, sitting up with an embarrassed blush rushing across her face. She was more embarrassed that it was obvious she'd been crying. "These are for you, Dr. Isles." He handed her the hard copies of the forensic photographs.

"I uhh… I better go," Jane sniffed and exited the room hastily.

"She okay?" Korsak frowned.

Maura sighed and gave a heavy shrug. "She's got a lot going on. Frost said the gun went off like two feet away from her. She's confused about us being out at work and she's shaken up that everybody knows now that Jane Rizzoli can open her heart."

Korsak sat down, frowning at the red, oval shaped seat. "This thing is uncomfortable."

Maura let out a smile. "Oh well. It's my chair, not yours…"

"You think she's changing? Or is she just… you know, just finding herself a little more?"

Again, Maura shrugged. "Whatever it is, she'll come out of that funk. I'm sure of it." She gave a confident smile and when Korsak finally eased himself out of the strange piece of furniture he put his hand on the doctor's shoulder.

"That she will," he nodded before leaving her to her own thoughts. "Still feel for Donna's family. They thought things were under control."

Maura sighed and nodded. "He kept her at home… she was left with her own papers and Arthur Conan Doyle books. Enough to drive anybody insane. The fact that her body physically couldn't house a fetus caused her to topple over. Endometriosis. Lots and lots of abrasions, scarring of the uterus."

He sighed, nodded and left, suddenly wanting to join Jane in her vending machine picnic.

That night, after Jane had finally settled down and filled in countless reports, Maura brought them both home. Jane snuggled up to Joe Friday, hastily changing into her sweatpants and grabbing a blanket to cover her body. "Donna was wearing a green jacket," she murmured coldly.

Maura sighed and sat down, having picked a few DVDs from her extensive collection. She gathered the quiet detective into her arms. "We did it, Jane…we figured it out."

"Not quick enough," Jane shook her head. "Doesn't help that you distract me so bad."

The blonde's eyes widened. "You're blaming me for Luke Jacobs' death?" Maura sat up, a warning tone to her voice.

"No, no!" Jane shook her head. "I…I didn't mean to say that, I just meant… I meant that I'm trying to get settled in a relationship, and at the same time people are dying out there, nearly me, and I can't work it out faster because you're so damn gorgeous, my head's turned to mush."

"Physically impossible," Maura said. Jane snorted. "Come here…" She lay down and watched as Jane settled her head against her breast. "Lie on the other one," she chuckled, wincing.

"Sorry," Jane smirked remembering the several love-bites she'd put there last night and re-nestled herself against Maura's chest. She counted on her fingers, "The Engineer's Thumb, The Adventure of the Resident Patient… and, uhh…"

Maura sighed, wishing the detective wouldn't torture herself like this. "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box. Those ears were pretty much torn off." She continued to trail hands through Jane's long locks. "Malloy said the guys found dozens and dozens of papers Donna had written. Some dating from her freshman year, some from one to two years ago."

"Fuck…"

"I know," Maura said gently, still tracing her fingers around Jane's face. She felt the brunette looked up and gave her a soft kiss. "We'll be okay…"

Jane grumbled and settled back down. "I'm hungry."

"Really? That doesn't surprise me," Maura smiled, massaging her girlfriend's scalp. "I think we still have some pasta left over from last night, I don't know whether that will sate your hunger though. And I suppose you don't want take out."

Jane suddenly sat up with scared eyes and shook her head. "No… No, no take out."

"Hey," Maura soothed her quickly. "No take-out. Promise." She said and lifted the phone from the coffee table, trying hard not to roll them both onto the floor. "Angela?"

"Is everything okay?" the woman asked.

"We're fine…" Maura watched Jane roll her eyes. "We need a favor actually."

"Sure, sure…"

"Make us a pizza?" Jane grabbed the phone and giggled down the receiver.

"Jane…" Angela sighed and there was a long pause. "Anchovies, with or without?"

"Without," Jane chuckled. "You sure you don't mind?"

"Sweetheart, I'm bored stiff." The woman whined.

"Well come over here then, we're having movie night." Jane said casually and Maura's hands stalled from stroking her girlfriend's hair. Maybe the woman was changing.

"Right… I'll be an hour… with your pizza," she laughed. "Extra cheese?"

"On one side," Jane squirmed to get comfy as Maura's knee poked into her backside. "And olives."

"Alright," Angela smiled and wrote down the 'order'. "See you soon."

"Sure…"

"And Jane? You sure you don't mind? I don't want to impose… if you know what I mean," she said slowly.

Jane rolled her eyes. "No imposing. Just want pizza."

She hung up and handed the phone back to Maura shaking her head. "She really is lonely huh?"

Maura smiled and smelled the woman's hair. "Yes, but also… she's your mother. And you mean the world to her, even if she shows that by nagging and making sure you're okay every waking minute of the day."

Jane huffed and snuggled closer. "Hmm… but I get pizza. Yay," she mumbled and closed her eyes. After the poisoning, she thought she'd never feel safe in her own house again, but here she was, lying on Maura's chest, arms tightened around her waist, hearing her heartbeat and feeling rather secure.

oxoxoxo

Two days later and Frost, Korsak, Frankie and the new couple found themselves enjoying rounds of beer, wine for Maura, at the Dirty Robber. Jane's arm was casually wrapped around the woman's shoulder and she took a sip from her bottle of Corona.

"I still don't understand," Maura frowned. "How do you have proof women talk that much more than men?"

"Sweetie… it's a joke." Jane said gently.

"Then it's not a very good joke." The woman crossed her arms.

The detective laughed. "Do statistics matter? It's saying that men don't have as good a memory as women."

Maura shrugged and huddled closer to Jane, not liking that everybody was laughing at her lack of humor on the matter. "Here…drink up." Jane passed the woman her wine glass before her girlfriend could argue anymore and Maura rolled her eyes but did as she was asked.

The more drunk the doctor got, the more she understood the jokes and began to laugh with her friends. Suddenly Korsak slammed his hand down on the table and fumbled with his tie. "Uh-oh… here he goes…"

"You've done this before I take it," Maura slurred slightly as she leant on Jane and watched the older man suddenly tie the garment to his head. "Jane…What is he…"

"Does it every time," Jane sat back with a gleeful grin.

Vince stumbled a little, then swigged down the last of his beer before making his way to the "stage," which to Maura, just looked like an oversized step.

"Korsak's a great fan of the Boss." Jane smirked and watched her own boss grab the microphone from Liam, a young but experienced compere.

"Cavanaugh?" Maura frowned, completely confused. This was her first karaoke night, and in all honesty it felt like she'd landed on an alien planet and was forced into some strange form of intergalactic entertainment.

Jane tutted. "Springsteen," she snorted slightly and looked at her girlfriend. "Really?" Maura shrugged but allowed a smile, her head settling back in its happy place. "Don't get too comfy, you do realize we're going up there in a bit."

"What? No… I thought we were just getting…entertained," Maura tried to reason with her but Jane shook her head.

"Nope, nope, nope. We're singing. And I'm picking," she flicked through the booklet of songs as the music started and Korsak sang, or rather, bellowed the first verse.

_"__Boooorn down in a dead man__'__s tooown, _

_The first kick I took hmmhmmhit the grounnnd, _

_You end up like a dog that'sbeentoobeentoobeat too muchhh." _The man was so passionate about his singing, Maura had to hold her mouth shut. She knew she could laugh quite loudly at times, and though this was humorous beyond words, she didn't want Vince to stop.  
><em>"Boooooooorn in the USAAAA I was boooorn in the USA," <em>he suddenly began to air guitar and Maura slunk further down into Jane's arms, hiding the intense giggling fit.

Jane smiled and wrapped her arms around her tightly, nuzzling her hair as the backing music rang throughout the pub.  
>"He's actually not so bad… if he didn't slur the words," Maura commented, her attempts at stopping the shivering thanks to Jane's kisses against her neck failing miserably.<p>

"See that's where you're wrong," Jane husked. "He can only sing when he's drunk."

"At least he can hold a tune," Maura laughed, lifting her neck for more kisses. They watched Korsak darting around the stage as he received the attention from his 'fans'.

"Bet you didn't think you'd see this, huh?"

"Never in a million years," Maura looked back and accepted the kiss that was being offered, slowly exploring Jane's lips. Jane's eyes slitted open and she was pleased to notice Frost and Frankie bickering over their choices of songs, ignoring them completely. She felt Maura's urgent tongue demand entrance and closed her eyes once more, relaxing into the embrace. She broke away before it got too heated. "You know what you wanna sing?"

"I don't want to sing," Maura's eyes fluttered open and she whined. She looked forward, keeping her eyes on Korsak as Jane's fingers drew little patterns on her arms, causing goose pimples to prick her skin.  
>Jane sighed. "Alright…"<p>

"I didn't say I wouldn't." The doctor gave a tipsy grin. "But I need another drink. A shot of some sort…"

Jane chortled with a disbelieving shake of the head and bent down to kiss her again. Korsak finished with roars of drunken applause from the punters who knew him rather well and the brunette disengaged to give her ex-partner a congratulatory slap on the back. He did a tumbling bow, then stood up and plopped back down in his seat looking completely worn out with his tie drooping over his eyes.

"Bar. Anybody want anything?" Jane asked, tapping Maura to get her standing. Korsak and Frost shook their heads but Frankie pointed for another beer.

Jane held Maura's hand as they walked towards the bar. The medical examiner watched with fascination as Frankie suddenly hopped up and grabbed the microphone. An introduction sounded out and Jane rolled her eyes as her little brother began to sing.

"Elvis?" Maura smirked.

"Everytime…" Jane laughed. "He used to do nights here…"

"Singing?" The smaller woman's mouth was wide-open.

"Sure," Jane smiled, rubbing her back. Maura's lips closed and she shook her head.

"Can you sing? Apart from in the car."

"That was me singing," Jane huffed.

"Good, neither can I" Maura laughed and bent closer, pecking her on her cheek with a condescending pat to the other.

Jane grumbled, and gestured to get Murray's attention. "What'll it be, girls?"

Jane put her hand on the bar. "Two slippery nipples, two more beers, and…"

Maura bit her lip and looked around the bar. "A beer," she said proudly, not really caring what she drank. If she was going to sing, she'd need to wet her whistle. Jane's eyebrows raised but she nodded and Murray tottered off to get the order. Maura leant against her heavily. "What's a slippery nipple?"

Jane's mouth widened. "You don't know?"

"Should I?"

"Sweetie, you can name every cocktail from A to Z."

"Is it a cocktail?" Maura's eyes were heavy but she still had that manic grin on her face.

"A shooter. Oh man you're gonna kill me in the morning."

"Now why would I do a thing like that?" Maura turned in her arms and lay her head on Jane's shoulder.

"God ,your brother has a nice voice."

"Don't get any ideas," Jane joked and felt them both start to sway to the music. _Take my hand. Take my whole life, too. For I can__'__t help falling in love with you. _"Hey… you okay?"

Maura looked up sniffling. "I just… I had no idea it would be this easy."

"What would?" Jane frowned.

"Just… being here, with you… like this." They danced slowly, Maura's arms wrapped tightly around Jane's neck, completely unaware of anybody in the bar. Jane knew that if she had drunk one beer less she wouldn't be able to be this open, but she knew what Maura meant. _Like a river flows, surely to the sea. Darling so it goes, some things are meant to be__…_

Jane giggled suddenly. "This is Pop's fault you know…"

"What is?" Maura asked.

"Elvis… He used to play tapes in the car… And in the end he started to hate him 'cause Frankie became obsessed."

"I wish I'd seen you when you were little…and Frankie. And Tommy even."

"Tommy just broke his bones all the time." Jane snorted as the song and their dance began to end.

"Ouch." Maura murmured. Jane nodded. She looked up to see the drink orders already on the bar.

"Here…" Jane stepped out of the embrace and handed the shot glass to Maura.

"Oh that's very pretty," the doctor giggled and held the strange concoction.

"Ready?" Jane smiled and Maura nodded excitedly. "One, two, three." They threw them back and Maura frowned, smacking the lips.

"Well that's just tasty."

"Right?" Jane laughed and leaned forward to kiss the excess of liquid off Maura's upper lip. "And it gets you drunk." Maura chuckled when they broke away for the second time and took a sip of her beer. "Come on… Frankie's gonna be whining that his throat's getting sore."

"Actually… I need to go to the bathroom. Back in a moment," Maura patted her side and watched her leave. She took a shaky breath and shot back her beer, taking three long swigs before it was gone.

"You don't want me to come with you?" Jane wagged her eyebrows.

Maura scoffed and shook her head, pushing herself passed. "Back in a moment," she repeated and disappeared off to the toilet.

Jane huffed and sat back down with the party. "You gonna sing, Frost?" She grinned and handed the beer to her brother. "You seemed kinda eager earlier."

"You want me to puke in your hair?" He counted, sighing and holding his head up off the table.

"No thanks," she scrunched up her face and looked at Frankie who was staring at her with disbelieving eyes.

"You're really happy, huh?" He looked at her dreamy face.

"Yeah, Frankie. I am." She nodded and dared herself to look into her little brother's eyes. He was smiling at her.

"Finally…" Frankie chuckled, causing the rest of the boys to laugh too. Ten minutes had gone and Jane began to panic a little.

_Take a chance, take a chance, take a chance take a take a chance chance. _

The music started up and she looked around frantically until she noticed Maura, her blouse tucked up into her cleavage, a microphone in hand.

Maura looked directly at her, shakily singing down the mic as nerves overwhelmed her. _"__If you change your mind, I__'__m the first in line, honey I__'__m still free__…__take a chance on me.__"__  
><em>Jane's eyes widened comically, trying not to stare at her girlfriend's bare belly. She began to grin when Maura's confidence grew. She also cursed the day she ever introduced Maura to Mamma Mia.

It was the night Ian left, and the women had held each other all night. Jane had brought a selection of feel-good movies and Angela had practically thrust the film into her hands when she asked her mother which ones would be effective. Did she regret it? She wasn't sure… it was cute to have a "movie" together. One that they'd look back on and admit their feelings were so obvious for so long.

Maura was weak that night, her heart aching. But now… She saw Maura's outstretched hand and whined, shaking her head frantically. So she had been bluffing. She really didn't want to get onto the stage. Though she was drunk, she also knew she'd embarrass herself.

"_If you__'__re all alone, when the pretty birds have flown, honey I__'__m still free__…__ take a chance on me,_" Maura grabbed her hand and pulled the sulking, highly embarrassed woman up. She swaggered to the stage, hand in hand with the detective, a grin plastered on her face. She sang a little longer until she pressed the microphone up to Jane's face.

Jane focused on the words in front of her and tried to fog out the crowd. Maura was having fun, and Jane was going to let her. "_We__…__we can go dancing_," Jane stumbled a little but felt a gentle squeeze to her ass and held in a bark of laughter.

Maura pulled the mic away, and Liam quickly handed one to Jane. "_We can go walking__…__ as long as we__'__re together__…"_She pulled on Jane's hand and they faced each other. Jane's slippery nipple suddenly caught up with her and she let out a goofy grin as they carried on with the song.

"_Cause__…__ you__…__ you know I__'__ve got, so much that I wanna do, when I dream I__'__m alone with you it__'__s magic.__"_

Jane's line brought wolf whistles from the BPD table and she turned a deep scarlet. "You're dead meat," she mouthed to Maura who winked back, as she sang her own line.

They were out of tune, but for the moment, the rest of the Dirty Robber didn't seem to care. Their chemistry was off the charts and the regulars found themselves pulling at their collars awkwardly. J

ane reached out casually and flipped the woman's blouse back down, causing a squawk of outrage from Maura. She laughed though and pulled Jane close and they blearily looked at the lyrics.

_Take a chance, take a chance, take a take a chance chance__…_

Jane frowned. The lyrics were eating at her as the song came to an end, and she knew it was just because she was drunk. Why would she let some ABBA song get to her otherwise? Whatever the reason was, she had no need to worry, as Maura all but jumped into her arms.

She smiled into the kiss that was suddenly happening and wrapped her arms around the medical examiner. The wolf whistles exploded into hoots, applause and general praise. Both women were trying not to laugh and they finally broke away as the backing music died on them. The clapping continued and Jane took a drunken bow, gesturing to Maura who curtsied with a small wobble.

They began to get embarrassed and hopped off the stage, making their way back to their booth. Korsak was still babbling mindlessly about having seen Maura's abs and Frost looked even more queasy, having done a tequila slammer to try and see if what they'd just done was all a dream. Frankie just gave them a gentle grin and a wink. Jane smiled back, wrapping her arms around the amber haired woman who was now snuggling close to try and fend off any embarrassment she felt.

"Jane…" Jane felt the whisper against her ear roughly half an hour after they had performed.

"Yeah…"

"Take me home," Maura grinned, swiping her tongue over Jane's neck. The detective didn't have to be told twice and pushed Maura up, throwing her coat into her arms.

"Bye fellas." She grinned and shrugged her own jacket over her shoulders as she tried to leave.

"Wh… you're going?" Korsak squawked. "But.. But you haven't seen us do the great finale! We're gonna make Frost sing!"

"I'm gonna have my own finale at home," she leered and was gone in a flash, Maura in hand.

Luckily for both women, Wednesday in Boston was quiet. People went to work, did their errands, brought their kids home from school. Nobody was killed. And thankfully, this meant that the two women with excruciating hangovers were left to their own devices. They snuggled, and kissed and finally found the cure to their pain; water, Advil, and sleeping in each others' arms as the rest of the world turned.


End file.
